Glory
by Dragon's Lover1
Summary: Vash and Knives have a little sister, who knows more about them, their family and their actions than they do. One problem: they don't know she exists. Can they believe her when she tells them all? V&M, N&M, K?, G?
1. Discover Me

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The Usual Disclaimer: I do not own Trigun, Meryl, Milly, Wolfwood, Rem, Knives, or Vash, as much as I wish I owned one particular character. . . .Oh, well. I can dream, can't I? 

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Glory

Chapter One: Discover Me

Moving silently, the tall dark haired woman ushered the child into an unused pod. 

The short blonde rubbed her eyes sleepily. "What's going on?" she whimpered.

"Shh, it's alright, baby," the woman said softly. "Everything's going to be fine now. But I need you to listen to me."

The little girl nodded. 

"After you land, you need to watch over your big brother. Make sure he doesn't get hurt, okay?"

"Big brother?" the young girl asked.

"Yes. Your big brother." The woman took a deep breath before shutting the pod door. "Vash."

Glory looked up at the woman as white mist came up, freezing her into place. _Don't forget, _the woman's voice said in her head. Closing her eyes, Glory nodded. _I'll never forget. Never._

***

She gasped as her eyes snapped open, feeling something was wrong. She only felt this way when he was in trouble, and couldn't find a way out. She got up quickly, slinging her giant boomerang over her shoulder and beginning to run. She had to find him, and fast. His panic was rising, faster than she could ever imagine. She forced herself to run even faster, homing in on where she felt his presence. _Too late_, her mind said to her, and she heard the unmistakable sound of a gunshot. She was too late.

Stumbling, she fell to her knees, probing his mind to find out what happened. She saw the man, blue hair and white coat, kneeling on the ground. Eyes closed, trying to talk him into firing his gun. Two women were off to the side, tied up, with controlled villagers getting closer and closer to killing the both of them. They were crying out for someone to help, to save them. He pulled the trigger.

The blue haired man fell to the side, smile in place. 

She clutched her head, seeing the vision of the man, so disturbed and creepy, now making it all worse by smiling in the face of death. Who did this guy think he was, anyway? Torturing her brother like that. How dare he? 

Getting up, she heard her name called. _Glory_. _Glory. _

She closed her eyes, seeing a vision of her mother smiling at her. _Help him through this, _she said. _You weren't able to help him this time, but now you have to help him. Don't let him die._

He could never die, she said back.

__

He could, and he will, if you don't help. He's willing to kill himself for this.

It wasn't his fault!! 

He doesn't know that as distinctly as you do. Save him!

Glory nodded, and began running again. She reached a cliff just in time to see several villagers and those two women taking turns carrying him down the cliff, completely unconscious. He looked badly wounded, and his right sleeve was missing. It looked like it'd been torn apart. She missed the entire thing! She'd failed her own mother. But deep down, she knew that wasn't true. She would only fail if she couldn't help him _now_, now that he couldn't go on without her help. He really couldn't.

She sat down, watching intently as they brought him to a doctor's office, and stayed patiently as they brought him back out again, wrapped up and took him into a house. She closed her eyes, and probed through the shorter woman's mind. 

__

I hope you make it through this, the woman thought. What was her name? Ah, yes. Meryl. _Don't die on me, you goofy son of a. You'd better not die on me. You hear me, Vash? Are you listening?_

Stupid woman, Glory thought, opening her eyes again. _He can't die that simply. He would have to be destroyed internally first. Until then, no matter how badly battered he gets, he'll be just fine. You watch him for me, and I'll mend his mind. We'll be a team. _

Lying back, Glory thought on that dead man. Someone had taken his body away, probably to be buried or dumped somewhere. A wry smile turned her lips. _There is no enemy in the dead_, she thought, remembering the old quote. She couldn't quite remember where she'd heard it from, but it was one of the many she'd picked up over time and used every now and again.

She had to sleep again. This way she would be entirely refreshed when he awoke, probably on the verge of screaming and after having terrible nightmares. It always hurt her to see his nightmares and hear his screams, and she remember how badly she shuddered when he'd screamed for Brad after the last of the SEEDs ships crashed after over a century. She didn't want to, but she ended up crying from his voice. 

It was then that she knew who was doing this to him, and wished she had the strength to find that man and punish him for it. But she couldn't do that. She knew very well that just as Vash was her brother and charge, Knives was her brother as well. She wished it wasn't so every day of her life, wishing she wasn't related to that hateful man. But then, she knew Vash as well hated that relationship. Knives had to be the worst man she'd ever met before, even though she'd seen a lot of evil over the years.

Letting her eyes slide shut, Glory let her boomerang lie next to her, and felt the warmth of the suns start to leave. _Sleep for now, _a voice - undecidedly hers or someone else's - said to her. _You have a lot on your hands. Get rest, and then get to work. _

Yes, her mind whispered back, as she felt the world around her disappear into the grasp of the night and dream world mixed.

***

She was there. She saw the entire thing as it happened, wishing vainly for the truck to stop. She could just give the men the subliminal message to do so, but then she couldn't. She felt sisterly tears in her eyes when that man pulled up a gun and aimed directly at her brother. She wanted to run down there and kill him for even lifting that gun, but before she could, those two women - Milly and Meryl - were down there. She was very shocked to see that human woman walk directly into the path of the gun, telling him that no one had the right to take another's life.

She was struck with déjà vu, hearing those words from her perch on a building roof. Her hand convulsed around her boomerang, ready to throw it at the slightest sign of that human man firing. But it didn't happen. Instead, they all left, and Meryl undid the ropes binding Vash. For a long time there was no talking, but the sound of their open thoughts was deafening. All three of them wanted to say so much, and Glory heard it all. Every last breath of a thought.

And then, with surprising ease with his injuries, Vash bounded up and hugged Meryl, and Glory smiled. It was about time those two admitted their feelings. But then again, Vash could always screw things up. And sure enough, he did. He yelled and started swinging her around, and - holding back her own laughter - Glory watched with amazed eyes as Meryl clocked him and stomped off, Milly on her heels. Glory allowed herself giggles at the look on her big brother's face, but didn't exactly approve of Meryl's Vash Removal Method. 

***

Glory watched confusedly as Vash came back after a long disappearance with Knives slung over his shoulder, his red coat missing. True enough, she'd heard his thought of always looking up to and believing in Rem, but looking to his own words for guidance, but she hadn't thought he'd just throw away his coat. That thing looked amazingly good on him, and Meryl - she knew - rather liked it.

Smiling again, Glory turned around and leaned against the stout wall on the roof, thinking that after this she could finally stop hiding behind cheap tricks and dumb luck. She could finally show her twin brothers that they weren't alone on this dusty planet. She could finally tell them all the truth, about their mother and their birth, and why she hadn't been allowed - in all this time - to be with either of them freely. 

And once that was off her chest, she could hug the both of them, glad to have her family back. She was still a little surprised at how well of a recovery Vash had after the death of that man - what was his name? She never learned it. Oh, well - but she was sure it was mostly the doing of that woman, Meryl.

That woman that she was heavily jealous of, because she could be with Vash at any time, whereas Glory had to hide in the shadows and give him pushes when he wasn't paying any attention. 

Thinking back, Glory looked at her boomerang, lying beside her and having several chips over years of being thrown and caught to help out her big brother. The first time was July, when she headed to Vash's need and saved each and every person in that town from being killed. It wasn't easy, and she ended up badly injured, but she did what she was supposed to. She helped him.

It was hard after that, constantly having trouble keeping up with him, and she completely lost him when he was taken to that ship. She could only get as close as directly under the ship, and kept checking on him to make sure nothing happened to him while he was up there. Her own relief was so great it was painful when he came down, perfectly fine and - in fact - in a nice new coat and with a new arm. Ever since then, however, she got daily shocks of how well known his name was and how many people were after him.

It became like a game after that, trying to keep up with him and keep bounty hunters away at the same time. The first really big hit came from that giant of a man with that big metal boomerang. She watched carefully the entire time, waiting to see if she would be needed this time around. She hardly ever was unless she felt his need for aid. Not for the first time, she wasn't needed.

She could still remember the town that chased him shortly after, and how she always gave fake directions and deterred attacks so he'd make it out without a scratch. But while she was pointing some other, more dangerous looking men in the opposite direction, she felt him get caught - by a passel of women. She was on her way to help him when she stopped dead, seeing two of the Nebraska family on their way to that particular spot. 

She used her boomerang to slightly alter the course of that giant's fist, and wasn't at all surprised when she saw Vash emerge from the rubble, carrying a woman. She was surprised, however, when he tossed a marker into the air. He'd drawn on the fist. The second time he used his fist, Glory wasn't needed. Although, on the third time, she knew for a fact that five bullets wouldn't help much, and through her boomerang. It hit at the same time his fifth bullet did, and she caught it quickly and hid. 

He never knew she helped him, in that time or any before or after. But soon enough, she'd tell him. All she had to do now was wait, and that was the easiest part. Well. . .wait and make sure none of the townsfolk decided to boot him out too soon. 

Smiling softly, Glory whispered the words to the song that kept up Vash for so long. "So. . .On the first night, a pebble falls to the earth from somewhere. So. . .On the second night, the pebble's children hold hands and sketch a waltz. Sound life. So. . .One the third night, the children of the waltz cause ripples on the face of the earth. So. . .On the forth night, the children of the wave spray the shore. Sound life. So. . .On the fifth night, those shards strike the face of the earth over and over. So. . . On the sixth night, those signals bring travelers together. Sound life. So. . .On the seventh night, a weightless ship races to the sky. So. . .On the eighth morning, a song from somewhere reaches my ears. Sound life. Well, then. . .A song that has recorded everything reaches the new sky." 

She, herself, never heard the song sung by Rem before, but she'd heard Vash enough times to know how it goes. She'd been watching from outside as his dreams played that song, over and over again. You'd half think that after a century that song would become boring, but then again, Glory herself was a changer. Every week something about her changed. Her earrings, her nails, her boots, the color of her lips; something about her was always changing. 

Besides that, one had to admit that "Sound Life" was a very hard song to grow weary of. She knew other songs, touching ones that made you feel better and called men to you as though you were a siren.

__

Siren. . .Some part of her reminded her of exactly what that was, from some knowledge that the word was based on a Greek legend. _The Sirens are women who lure sailors to their death through singing. _Her mind gave her synonyms for the word, her expressed vocabulary showing itself off in her own mind.

That was another thing about her. Even though most of the time she did not realize it, she often showed off to the people that saw her. A trick with her boomerang, some random knowledge that stunned other people, an analyzation of someone's feelings so they could understand what they were feeling. Other things like that. But then, she knew that at times Vash was the same way. Although he was more of the type to do a silly pose that would make a teenager's heart pound. 

Unfortunately for him, all the women he posed for were smarter than that, and about ten years older. And without even realizing it, he manages to impress most people. He'd do something like dodge a bullet without any of them seeing it, or do a flip while jumping off a building, or figure out the answer to an attack no one could ever get, and then the women would end up willing to be putty in his hands, and he'd never even notice. Or he'd be gone by then. 

The idiot could have had so many woman willing to follow him into hell, and he couldn't even see it. Or he chose not to. She knew, after all, that he was embarrassed about his physical looks, and that he'd never let a woman fall in love with him. After all, he wasn't a human like every other woman on this planet. And the last thing he needed was to lose another woman he cared about.

Sighing, Glory laid out straight on the roof, and reached over to lightly hold her necklace, a necklace that she'd awoken with so many years ago. It was a locket, silver, holding two pictures on the inside. On the left side, her mother. On the right, Vash and Knives, fighting over who gets which spot in the picture. 

She sighed again, and focused on the light of the suns beaming against her closed lids as she let herself drift into her own dream world, where she, Vash and Knives all lived happily together with their mother. It was a very lovely place. In fact, it was the only place they could all be a family. In her world, they laughed, they played, and they loved each other. Now, all she had to do was make that happen in the living world. 

***

Thanks for reading this so far. I was told it was great, but I'll leave the door open for reviewers anyway. In fact, tell me straight out what you think. I tried to be vague as well as detailed, and I think I did a pretty good job of it. But, that's just my opinion. The reviews are worth more than my feeble attempts at praising myself. 

Oh, yeah. About the song. . .that's just how I read it. No killing me for getting it wrong, okay?

~DL~


	2. Chance Meeting?

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The Usual Disclaimer: I do not own Trigun, Meryl, Milly, Wolfwood, Rem, Knives, or Vash, as much as I wish I owned one particular character. . . .Oh, well. I can dream, can't I? 

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Glory

Chapter Two: Chance Meeting?

Vash hummed lightly as he made his way to the outdoor restaurant. Well, it had an inside too, obviously. But it had five tables put outside periodically, and an overhanging roof shaded the area. Today felt very good, in his opinion. He learned a lot about himself, Knives, and even Meryl after their battle in the sand. Sure, he'd left his coat, gun, and cross-punisher behind, but he had no need for them anymore. So instead, today, he wore a nice white button-up shirt with long sleeves and semi-loose blue jeans. He wanted to wear his usual boots with them as well, but those wouldn't look right. So, he opted for the pair he had while he was living with Lina and her Grandmother. Apparently, this outfit was much better for attracting kind smiles than his coat. Everywhere he went, someone was smiling at him.

"You attract smiles," Meryl's voice said in his head. This morning, when she'd woken up, the first thing she did was hop up to make breakfast - while he was still dead asleep. And then she'd greeted him with a very nice smile, as did Milly. And that's when she said it. _"You attract smiles." _Possibly the simplest, yet most detailed sentence he'd ever heard her say.

He pulled out a chair and sat down, linking his hands behind his head and tiled his head back, waiting patiently for someone to notice him and come up to take his order. So what if it was lunch time? He had a hankering for donuts. 

Sighing as he finished the song, the light of the sun went out for a split second as another person walked by him. He opened his eyes and smiled at him - or, he guessed by the height that it was a "him" - and couldn't help the slight shock he felt. 

It was a woman, there was no doubt about that. She walked right past him and sat down after swinging a chair from its place under a table and sat down, dropping a huge boomerang on her left side. It leaned heavily against the table. She returned his smile and then dropped her crossed ankles on the table, tilting her chair back slightly.

She was wearing a very tight black tank top that showed off all of her toned stomach - a full six-pack. Not something you see everyday on women. She also wore tight jeans, black, with sort of green-blue linings. The stitching down the sides, the flap for the zipper, the belt loops and the waistband were all colored in that shade. And the lining for her pockets. Her boots were bright red, though, reminding him of the shade of his coat. There weren't halfway up her calves, and had five bands of metal around them from the top to her ankles. And two striped of metal went straight down the sides and branched off on both sides in a "Y" - one for across her feet, one for under, and the third for the bands. Even though they were red, her slight platforms on the bottom were as black as her clothing. She had, as well, two black wrist-high gloves with a hole cut on the outside of her hand. The wrist bands of the gloves were red, too. She also had this strip of cloth tied high around her upper arm, the same color as the lining on her jeans. There was a chain around her waist with rather huge links. It connected over her left hip and hung down four links.

Her hair was unruly and wavy, held high on her head in a ponytail but still reaching her waist. It was the exact same golden color as his hair, now that he thought about it. Her lips seemed to be the same red as her boots and gloves, and thicker than most of the lips you see these days. And her eyes - though considerably more narrowed than his own - seemed to be the same green shade as his own. 

Those eyes held a very strong light as her eyes met his. After a moment of just staring, recognition sparked in his mind. He knew this woman, but from where, and when? Her smile grew slightly and then she winked, and looked away. 

Vash opened his mouth to say something, but just then a waitress decided to show up. She asked him what he wanted, and for a moment he couldn't remember. _Who is that woman? I know I know her, _he thought as he ordered a plate of donuts. The waitress cocked an eyebrow at him before shrugging and writing it down. The moment she moved out of the way, he continued his conclusion on this new woman. _Why does she look so damn familiar?!_

Now her head was tilted back, relaxing. Her arms crossed over her chest, and she was looking up at the roof, eyeing the cracks between the boards and the bent nails used to keep it together. Her fingers lightly drummed against her arms - which, he noticed, was finely toned. But when you had a weapon like that, he supposed you'd have to have strong arms. That thing looked heavy.

Her foot slowly jerked back and forth as she closed her eyes, along with some rhythm only she could hear. He watched her foot, trying to guess at her song. Left, right-left, right, left-right. . . Bum. . .bum-bum. . .Bum. . .bum-bum. . . She was mouthing the same beat, he noticed. And then, he heard her voice, quiet but clear as she sang a somewhat gloomy but heartfelt song.

"Last fire will rise, behind those eyes, black house will rock, blind boys don't lie," she sang softly, drawing out the last word a few seconds longer than the others. She went on.

"Immortal fear, that voice so clear, through broken walls, that scream I hear," she murmured, again drawing out the last word.

"Cry, little sister," she said, only to have her voice drop a few notches and become like a child's. "Thou shalt not fall," her voice raised again, "Come, come to your brother," and again it dropped, "Thou shalt not die," it raised again, "Unchain me sister," dropped, "Thou shalt not fear," up again, "Love is with your brother," and it dropped one final time, "Thou shalt not kill." Just like the previous times, she drew out the last word.

Something sparked in her that made her open her eyes, an almost longing look in their hidden depths. There was much more emotion in her eyes than he'd ever seen before. Even as he took all this in, she was going on.

"Blue masquerade, strangers look on, when will they learn, this loneliness? Temptation heat, beats like a drum, deep in your veins. I will not lie, little sister.

"Thou shat not fall.

"Come, come to your brother.

"Thou shalt not die.

"Unchain me sister.

"Thou shalt not fear.

"Love is with your brother.

"Thou shalt not kill." Her eyes closed briefly before she went on.

"My Shangri-la, I can't forget, why you were mine, I need you now. . ." She drew out that last word as her voice raised in volume, going on for about twenty seconds. He couldn't shake the feeling that this was some kind of code she was using to tell him something. 

She repeated the chorus three more times as her voice faded out, supposedly the song ending. After a moment's thought, Vash decided on not waiting for his donuts and talking to the woman. He stood up slowly, catching the slight tears that shone in her eyes as she opened them once more and blinked. He walked right up to her and took the unused chair on her right side. "Miss?" he began, hoping to start this off right.

She blinked again and dropped her head slightly, looking over at him. "Yes?"

"Have we met somewhere before?"

She laughed. "I doubt it." She eyed his hair a moment. "I think I'd remember that hair style." After a second she added, "And those eyes."

"You don't have to look far to find them," he pointed out. "Just as far as a mirror."

"True," she half laughed. 

"Might I have the pleasure of your name, Miss. . ?"

"Call me Glory. And you, young man?" she asked. This time Vash felt as though she knew a lot about him and was, in fact, teasing him.

"Vash," he replied, having this undeniable feeling that she already knew that.

But nonetheless, she extended her hand in a formal greeting. "Hello, Vash," she said. He reached out and grasped her hand with his own. "Nice to meet you on this beautiful day."

He couldn't help his smile back. "Indeed. Nice to meet you as well, Glory."

She smiled warmly at him before taking back her hand and nodding in the path of his table. "You've got the girl with the donuts over there. I suggest you not keep her waiting."

He nodded once and got up, expecting to see the waitress looking confused, but seeing a plate of donuts and an unhappy-looking Meryl in his previous seat. He grinned sheepishly at her and tried not to look scared as he took another seat. This wasn't going to end pretty.

~*~ Glory ~*~

When I saw that woman sit down - Meryl - I knew he was in trouble. At least I could warn him first. I drew back my hand and nodded at his table, my smile ever in place. "You've got the girl with the donuts over there. I suggest you not keep her waiting," I said to him. I watched with a pang of sisterly protectiveness as Meryl gave both of us a glare in turn. But still, Vash stood up and - wearing a big, innocent grin - went over to his woman and sat down, and then the both of them were talking fast. But nowhere near fast enough for me not to hear.

"Please, Meryl, before you overreact - "

"Overreact?! I'll give you overreact! Who is that woman?! Why were you touching her?!"

"I just met her!"

"And after last night, you're already going after the nearest skirt?!" She got up at that point.

Feeling a need to intervene, I stood up as well. My height - just as my brother's - easily dwarfed the woman, but she seemed not to notice. She walked right up to me and kept with her tirade.

"And you! Who do you think you are, going after any man off of the street?! Huh?! Well?! Aren't you going to answer me?!" She went on and on, and I waited patiently for her to finish. After a few minutes, a lot of gesturing, and some pleas from Vash for her to calm down, she crossed her arms and huffed. She glared up at me before shouting one last word, "Well?!"

"I'm afraid that your jealousy is misplaced," I began, hoping that this woman in particular would warm up to anyone who could strike an intelligent conversation. So far, it's worked. She looked up at me strangely, her arms falling to her sides. I went on carefully. "I have no desire to be with your man. Just the need to socialize to a certain degree."

Meryl tilted her head at me a moment before nodding and sighing. From behind her, still sitting, Vash looked up at me in a kind of muted wonder. I knew - and have known - that this woman's rage could not be put out so easily, so this must be quite a feat. Definitely not something that happens every day.

I nodded at her and stretched out my hand with the friendliest smile I had. "You're Meryl, right?" I asked.

She looked shocked at me for a second and then pressed her fists firmly into her hips. "How do you know my name?!" she demanded.

"Vash said it," I said, gesturing at the man.

He smiled at us - almost like the kid who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

Meryl raised a brow at me for a moment before taking my hand. "And your name, Miss?"

"Glory," I said back. "Nice to meet you. And by the way, you might want to curb your anger. You sound like an idiot when you fire away without knowing the whole story." I let her hand go as she stood, stunned at my words, and sat back down, replacing my legs on the table. After a moment Meryl shook her head and sat back down, taking a few donuts from the plate that Vash had already attacked.

I smiled at them. It was about time they got together. I felt their passion for one another, and it was obvious to anyone who watched them closely. Now I could feel that same passion, bloomed into full-blown love. One so strong I wouldn't be surprised if they both threatened me with death if I ever tried to get between them.

The waitress chose that moment to come up to me and ask me what I wanted. After a moment of thought, I glanced over at Vash's table. Damn, but donuts looked good right now. Smiling brightly at the woman, I asked her how much that would cost.

"Fifteen double dollars," she said, writing it down. She knew, then, that I wanted donuts as well.

I stopped her before she could walk away. "Maybe you should bring me two." I nodded in the direction of Vash's table. "The second one for them." The waitress glanced at the table, shocked to see that over half of the donuts were already gone. And then she smiled at me, apparently very happy to see that there was still kindness on this planet.

She obviously didn't know that the worst was already over, now that Knives was bedridden.

As she went away, I heard my voice called. I looked up to see an old man, over eighty at least, walk up to me leaning on a cane. I recognized those eyes.

"Glory! Is that really you? Are you back?"

I stood up as he came near, seeing his once six-foot-three height hunched over. "Garth?" I laughed. "Who'd have thought you'd last this long? You must be nearly ninety!"

He laughed back at me and climbed the three stout steps. "I haven't seen you in years, but you look exactly the same!"

"That happens when you take extra good care of yourself, Garth. Above everyone else, you should know that." I raised a brow at him. "And how did you recognize me? I changed just about everything about my appearance since I was last here." I saw that Meryl and Vash were half-listening out of the corner of my eye.

Garth laughed at me. "Simple. You're the only woman I know who could pull off such a kind face on such an intimidating body. Or," he added, looking thoughtful. "Maybe it's the other way around."

I laughed at him. "Well, it was good to see you again, Garth."

He smiled at me. "I'm just glad you didn't get another growth spurt. Even as tall as I once was, it still hurt to look up at you."

My eyes sparkled as I looked down at him. "Well, I think it's safe to say I never asked to be almost seven foot." 

"True," he laughed back at me. He waved as he turned around and went back on his journey. "Don't be a stranger."

"Don't get yourself into trouble," I pointed out. He was a real trouble-maker twenty years back, even at almost seventy. Always playing tricks and making up jokes. 

He laughed as he disappeared form my sight. I felt myself soften, inside and out, as I thought about how I thought I'd never see him again. We became really good friends twenty years back, when I should have been just a little kid. But no, I was over a century when I met him. No doubt that Vash would catch this and wonder about everything we said. "_. . .you look exactly the same." _Luckily he didn't know how long ago "years" was.

The waitress returned and gave her the first plate of donuts and the second to Vash and Meryl, who looked a little shocked. Meryl got up as Vash began stuffing his face again. She walked over to me and reached out her hand. "It was very nice meeting you, Miss Glory," she said. I smiled at her as I shook her hand.

"Just call me Glory, alright?" I asked. Meryl nodded and withdrew. 

"What a chance meeting," I heard her say as she walked off. "Chance" indeed. I acted like I didn't hear her, starting on my own donuts - though considerably with more manners than my elder brother. 

It was going perfectly. Now that we've met, I can meet them on other "chances" and slowly let them know little bits about me. Ultimately, would tell Vash about our relationship, but until then, I would take things much slower than that. Hopefully it will take less than a year for us to become comfortable enough around each other that I could tell him. Maybe I could make it easier by showing off a little. . .But _just _a little, I told myself. No need to shock him to high heaven.

~*~ 

Second chapter - check. Good description - check. Scanned Glory pictures - check. Reviews - well, that's up to you.

More directly, I'm trying to say that I have a few pictures of Glory drawn out, in case any of you need some reference. Just ask in a review or e-mail me and I will send it to you.

~DL~


	3. So We Meet Again

****

The Usual Disclaimer: I do not own Trigun, Meryl, Milly, Wolfwood, Rem, Knives, or Vash, as much as I wish I owned one particular character. . . .Oh, well. I can dream, can't I? 

****

Glory

Chapter Three: So We Meet Again

Glory hummed as she sat, on the roof of the hotel, smoothing over the chips in her boomerang and thinking about what to do tomorrow. Maybe she could "accidentally" bump into them. God only knows at this point. She shouldn't be thinking about this now, though. She'd just _officially _met her own brother, and she wasn't going to dwell on what to do about tomorrow _now. _No, _now _she was going to think about him, and how he'd acted.

True, for the longest time she'd been watching over him like a guardian angel, but never before did she ever actually speak to him. It wasn't easy, but she found herself going on about whatever came to mind. Like that crack about his hair. _"I think I'd remember that hair style," _she remembered. 

He didn't know it, and she didn't show it, but her heart was pounding the entire time. It was hard for her to keep herself from throwing herself into his arms and crying in joy. It was about time she got to be with him like she should have been over the years. Unfortunately, it was necessary for her to not reveal herself.

If she'd have made herself known to him, Knives as well would know, and that meant. . .well, no one could guess. Knives would've either used her to get to Vash or offered her to be with his Gung Ho Guns. And of course, if Vash knew, he could never fight against her. She knew that. Vash _hated _fighting with Knives more than anything. So naturally, fighting his little sister would be impossible. 

She couldn't help how she sang, though. She didn't know where she'd learned the song, but she knew what effect it had on her. It almost hurt her on certain levels. She wished with all her heart that Vash and Knives would have known about her since her birth, but she knew as well that she couldn't. It hurt her beyond words.

That song meant something to her. _Immortal fear. Love is with your brother. Thou shalt not kill. _That last especially hurt her.

She knew Knives had no concern with life, whereas Vash refused to kill anything or to let anything die. She, herself, seemed to be stuck in the middle. She's killed before. She's likely to again. But she's never _wanted _to. Every time she kills, she feels the death stain her hands, and the pain of the person she killed. She could feel it all, and she could tell that even Vash wasn't so in tune with life. 

Knives knew a lot more about his plant powers, but since he only used them to destroy, he still had no idea how much power they _did _have. But she knew. It was too bad for Vash that he didn't though. . .If he did know, then he wouldn't have had. . .to. . .

Shutting her eyes tightly, Glory willed herself not to think about it. Vash had been destroyed when he pulled the trigger and killed Legato, but Glory refused to help the man. He was evil and misled, in every version of the word. He deserved to die. He deserved to burn in hell. He deserved to never be brought back.

Glory shook her head to clear these thoughts away. She was happy, now. Although it _did _hurt her that Vash now had a woman to be with. She'd never had anybody, having to follow around Vash for so long. But it almost did happen, once. _Almost. _But the man who had almost loved her back had just up and left one day. She hadn't heard of him since.

She remembered a song that she'd heard before, one that suited her better than she would have ever liked to admit. The scary part was, the song was never meant to have its metaphors taken literally, and one in particular was. For her, at least. Nodding her head to the beat that was coming up, Glory began softly singing the song. She'd been told long ago that she should be a singer, and she prided herself on her voice. The sun was setting, creating the perfect scene for such a song.

"I feel like I've been locked up tight for a century of lonely nights, waiting for someone. . .to release me. You're licking your lips and blowing kisses my way, but that doesn't mean I'm going to give it away. Baby, baby, baby. Baby, baby, baby. Oh, oh, oh-oh oh. . .My body's saying let's go. Oh, oh, oh-oh oh. . .But my heart is saying no.  
  
"If you wanna be with me, baby, there's a price to pay, I'm a genie in a bottle, you gotta rub me the right way. If you wanna be with me, I can make your wish come true, you gotta make a big impression, oh yeah, gotta like what you do.  
  
"I'm a genie in a bottle, baby, gotta rub me the right way, honey. I'm a genie in a bottle, baby, come, come, come on and let me out. The music's playing and the lights' down low, one more dance and then we're good to go, waiting for someone, who needs me. Hormones racin' at the speed of light, but that don't mean it's gotta be tonight. . . Baby, baby, baby. . .Baby, baby, baby. . .  
  
"Oh, oh, oh-oh oh. . . My body's saying let's go. Oh, oh, oh-oh oh. . . But my heart is saying no.  
  
"If you wanna be with me, baby, there's a price to pay. I'm a genie in a bottle, you gotta rub me the right way. If you wanna be with me, ooh I can make your wish come true, come and set me free, baby, and I'll be with you. I'm a genie in a bottle, baby, gotta rub me the right way, honey. I'm a genie in a bottle, baby, come, come, come on and let me out. I'm a genie in a bottle, baby, gotta rub me the right way, honey. I'm a genie in a bottle, baby, come, come, come on and let me out.  
  
"Oh, oh, oh-oh oh. . .My body's saying let's go. Oh, oh, oh-oh oh. . .But my heart is saying no.  
  
"If you wanna be with me, baby, there's a price you pay. I'm a genie in a bottle, you gotta rub me the right way. If you wanna be with me, I can make your wish come true. You gotta make a big impression, gotta like what you do. If you wanna be with me, baby, there's a price you pay. I'm a genie in a bottle, you gotta rub me the right way. If you wanna be with me, I can make your wish come true. Come and set me free, baby, and I'll be with you.  
  
I'm a genie in a bottle, baby, come, come, come and let me out."

~*~ Vash ~*~

He heard her sing that song, sitting on the roof. He listened to every word of it. This new woman was puzzling him endlessly. After Meryl left, he'd happily eaten the second plates of donuts Glory paid for. And then they got to talking again, and he found out that years ago she was here, and had made a lot of friends. But she was vague with the exact date, shrugging and saying she hardly paid attention to the days that went by.

Thus far, he knew nothing about what she did. She said she was talented from birth with things like singing and gymnastics, and had trained for several years out in the desert to learn how to use that huge boomerang she has. She'd shrugged again when he pointed out its weight, and lifted it himself to see how heavy it was. He was shocked to find that it was even heavier than Wolfwood's cross. And that was hard-packed metal.

That was another thing he asked her about. He couldn't tell what the boomerang was made of, and she told him it was either a bone or a tooth she dug up after tripping over it in the middle of the desert. What he couldn't understand was, if she trained with that boomerang for "years", and still looked so young, then why was it so big? No kid would ever be able to throw that thing around. She wasn't telling him something.

He heard the door open and turned to see who it was, although he already knew. He smiled as Meryl came in, already thinking about what had happened between them the previous night. She walked right up to him and stared out the window at the setting suns. 

"What were you doing?" she asked, her voice soft and like a caress.

"Watching the sunset," he half-lied. In a way, he was watching the sunset, but nonetheless he glanced once more at Glory's back from across the street plus several stories and a few buildings left. At times like this he really loved his hearing. 

Meryl smiled and leaned into his left side, still gazing out the window. The colors of the sky were very touching right now. "So what are you thinking about?" she asked.

"Nothing much," he replied doggedly. The last thing he wanted was Meryl to know was that he was still puzzling over this "Glory" girl.

"Ahh," Meryl said with a smile. She turned slightly, still holding that smile, and looked directly into his eyes. "You're thinking about that new girl."

Vash blinked and did a double-take. _What? How could she know that?! _"How could you know what I'm thinking?"

Meryl laughed. "I know." She leaned against him again, her eyes finding the slightly blurred, dark shape of Glory out in the mingled colors of sunset. "Did she say anything to you?"

"Not really," he tried. On another thought, he knew this wouldn't suffice, so he added on another sentence. "She dodged just about all of my questions."

"What do you mean?"

"Like this." He took a breath and wrapped his mechanical arm around her shoulders. "I asked her when she came to this town before. She said 'A few years back'. I asked her where she got that boomerang of hers. She said 'Out in the desert.' I asked her how old she was. She said 'I'm guessing about your age'." He gave a half smile and glanced down at Meryl. 

Meryl seemed to be sharing his slight joke. A small smirk played at her lips, but she choked that down after a few moments and looked back up at him. "All in all, what _did _she tell you?"

He sighed. "Something along the lines of, 'Hi, I'm Glory, I like to sing, I carry a boomerang that weighs more than a man, I smile a lot, and if you ask me any direct questions, you'll get indirect answers'."

Meryl laughed. "Sounds like somebody else I know," she said, adding a playful pinch to his side. 

A small yelp was her answer, and then - somehow - they ended up on the floor, laughing, with red cheeks and some knocked down random pieces of furniture and such. Poor living room.

At that moment, they were halfway tangled up in each other. They were both lying on their sides. Meryl's left leg was in between Vash's, and her right leg had somehow found its way up to his shoulder. Another "somehow" was for Vash's right hand - which seemed caught in her skirt pocket. It was then - _that moment _- that Milly decided to come downstairs, heading for the kitchen, and talking about how after just one day Knives was already looking better and so on.

She paused and walked backwards a few steps when she caught them out of the corner of her eye, and looked at them closely. The two smiled back, unsure of what to do or say. And then Milly smiled and dropped the whole thing, going on about how she was sure Knives would be just fine and that with the three of them working together, he'd be perfectly civilized in no time and ready to rejoin the world. 

Meryl audibly sighed and started pulling them apart, trying not to jerk on any sensitive or bruised areas. Once they were both sitting up and dusting off, Meryl reached over to swat at Vash's arm. 

He looked shocked. "What did I do?" he asked, in a voice that was half hurt, half innocent.

"You got us into that position," she accused.

His jaw dropped for added effect. "How did you come to _that _conclusion?" he demanded.

"You're the only contortionist I know, Vash," she said while getting up. 

Not yet ready to let the matter drop, he reached up and caught the end of her skirt, tugging her down into his lap. He gave her a grin. "Why, hello there. Nice to see you, too," he said, trying again for innocence. 

Meryl gave him her best glare, trying to appear angry, but ended up sharing his smile. She shoved at his chest as she got up, straightening her skirt before walking away, giving him a simple "You can't do this every time, you know," as she went into the kitchen to start with dinner. 

Vash's grin didn't let up as he, too, got up, heading for the stairs. It was about time he checked on Knives himself, anyway. Although he seriously doubted Knives would be awake yet - let alone running around looking for his gun. But still, it would help to know when his twin was awake. 

Much to his surprise, Knives _was _awake. Glaring daggers out the window, a scowl in place, and seemingly refusing to move. Vash walked right up to him and sat down on the chair next to the bed, still holding onto his smile. He leaned back and waited patiently for Knives to speak. He already knew the lectures that were to come, knew the excuses Knives gave for killing, knew the old metaphor they still used about spiders and butterflies.

"Then why do you wait for me to speak?" Knives said, faintly. He didn't sound angry, or in pain. He sounded almost. . .disappointed.

"Because I as well have nothing to say you haven't heard before," Vash replied, keeping his voice even - at least for now.

"And you think my views have changed? To give me a new opinion?"

"No. No, I think you're very angry at me for ruining your plans of destroying an entire species."

"What do you care?" Knives sneered, turning his head to look at his brother. "They're not _your _species."

"That doesn't take away their right to live. Not any more than it gives you the right to take their lives."

Knives smirked and looked away again. "So, we meet again, dear brother," he said in a mocking voice.

"It seems so," Vash said while standing up. "Hungry at all? Dinner's being made."

"Who was that woman that was just here?"

"Her name is Milly, though I doubt you'll use it. The other woman is Meryl. The four of us live here. Four, including you."

"And for how long?"

"That depends on you," Vash finished as he left, shutting the door quietly. If Knives needed anything, he'd more than likely contact him through their minds. No need in letting "the women" know he's awake.

__

Correct, brother, Knives' voice said in his head.

__

You should get some sleep, Vash thought back, not really in the mood for any sort of fight. He'd learned a lot during that fight with Knives - how to control his angel arm, how much they fight alike, and how to put up mental barriers to keep his thoughts from being heard or other's thoughts to get to him. Very helpful, when need be.

He was smiling again when he got downstairs, and started humming as he took his seat. Whatever was being made, it smelled really good. And then Meryl surprised him. She turned around and placed a box of donuts in front of him - a forty pack, she said. Followed by "Knock yourself out."

She probably didn't mean literally. . .

Meryl just shook her head. A forty box of donuts and then a full gallon of alcohol - he wouldn't be waking up anytime soon. 

~*~

Ta-da! Third chapter is now finished! Unfortunately, I have no new glory pictures, seeing as how I'm working mainly on my Inuyasha ones for my fic "Transformations". Yep. And it's an awesome fic, really. Not to brag, but one look at how many reviews it has and you'll understand. *Sigh* Which reminds me, I've got to finish that one picture. . .

~DL~


	4. Reminiscing

****

The Usual Disclaimer: I do not own Trigun, Meryl, Milly, Wolfwood, Rem, Knives, or Vash, as much as I wish I owned one particular character. . . .Oh, well. I can dream, can't I? 

****

Glory

Chapter Four: Reminscing

She was sitting on a bench when it happened. Out of nowhere, it seemed, a human missile launched at her and clung tightly to her shoulders. If she hadn't been off guard, she would've known it was going to happen. But since she was, she barely resisted jumping and spinning on her attacker.

But she already knew who it was. Only one person had ever acted this way around her, although by now she thought he'd have gotten over it. 

"Wesley, cut it out," she said, standing up and prying his hands apart. She got laughter as a reply.

Wesley, a red-headed boy - no, man now - had always been overactive around her. His hair was cut short and fluffy, his eyes a light but still bright shade of blue. You could almost see through them. He retained several freckles across his nose from his younger years, she noticed. His face was less that of a handsome man but still cute. Today he was wearing a light blue shirt, tight and showing off his full-grown muscles and a pair of pure black jeans. And even after all this time, he still preferred brown boots.

She shook her head. "Only you, Wesley."

He laughed again. "They don't call me that anymore. Now they call me. . ." he struck a pose, "Wes."

She laughed out loud at him. After all this time, he was still such a kid. He must be in his mid-thirties by now. "Wes, huh? Well, I suppose it was about time you got yourself a nickname."

He shrugged, putting his hands into his pockets. "I guess." There was a few moments of silence, both of them just standing there. Then he spoke again. "How'd you like to meet my wife?"

She did a double take. "You have a wife now?"

"Why?" he asked, then raised a brow and grinned. "Jealous?"

"Hardly," she laughed out. "But I had the impression you'd never settle down enough to get a wife."

His grin didn't waver. "And twin girls."

"Ah, I see. Do you have a job, too?"

"I'm multi-talented," he said, again shrugging. "So how bout it?"

"Another time; I have things to do today," she said evasively. 

"Whatever. Later, Glory," he said, and waved as he walked away. "But you're _going _to meet them!"

She waved back. "I wouldn't miss it!" She laughed again as he left, and in her peripheral vision she caught a red shirt and blonde hair standing on end. Instantly she lowered her eyes to her seat and sat back down. She made no move to show she knew he was coming, but she caught his feet pause in their walking for a moment. Another second passed and she heard his voice. 

"Hey, Glory!" 

She looked up, to her left first, as though she wasn't sure which way it was coming from. Then her head swung to the right and caught Vash waving at her. Her heart froze in her chest for a second when she saw his face. 

There was that grin again. The silly, playful, I'll-never-grow-up grin. She knew that half the time it was just an act to keep everyone off-guard about him, but she could tell this one was straight from his heart. She smiled and stood up again, waving in return. She'd left her boomerang on a roof, and apparently he noticed it was missing.

"Hi, Vash," she said back as his eyes scanned the empty ground next to her. "I wasn't expecting to see you again so soon." It was an honest sentence, at least.

"You're missing a certain weapon," he pointed out. 

"I know." She smiled. "And it's a weapon to bring peace to the world," she corrected. "Get it straight or don't get it."

She saw that sentence startled him. He wasn't expecting that one - good. That helped her. "You know," she went on, "you're missing a certain someone." 

He laughed once. "Yes, I know. She's gone off to get something." His eyes glittered and narrowed like he was about to tell a secret. "I think she's gone to buy donuts." Once the words left his lips, his eyes widened again like that of a child in a candy store and he clasped his hands together. "Oh, please let it be donuts," he said, eyes focused on the sky. 

Glory laughed in pure delight at him. "I believe the word is 'addicted'," she told him, and took a few steps towards him. It got annoying fast when people kept walking in between them, obscuring her sight of him. "Where are you headed?"

There was that grin again. "You probably won't understand, but I'm going to the plants."

"Really?" She raised an eyebrow for effect. "What for?"

"That's my secret," he told her, as though it was one of those if-I-told-you-I'd-have-to-kill-you things.

"Well, can I tag along?" she asked. "I've got nothing better to do for today."

"Planning on spying on me?" he asked, only half teasing. Then he was catching on that their "chance encounters" weren't quite so much "chance". That was good.

She drew an invisible tally in her mind's eye. That made it Vash: one, Glory: infinite. He was catching up. About time. "Well, let me come and you'll find out," she said back. 

He raised one brow at her remark, then shrugged. "Come then, if you like. It's not like you're banned from the plant, right?"

"True," she laughed. He continued his questioning as they made their way to the plant, and she continued to answer evasively. In truth, she'd been meaning to visit them again - after all, she hadn't seen them in quite a few years. She just hoped they wouldn't tell Vash about her. That just might screw things up.

The plants were just as she remembered them, but she didn't let them notice her or let Vash see anything except curiosity in her face. She asked questions to the man who was leading them, questions about where they got the plants, what they were and how they got power from them. It was always interesting listening to human's theories about the plants. 

"As far as I know, they're some sort of alien species, and they're very generous - or that's what my mother says. It might be childish to think like that after all these years, but I guess I'm one of those guys who'll never grow up."

"Don't be silly," Glory said. "No pun intended, but really, George, everyone has to have an opinion. I'm just happy that yours isn't 'They're weaker creatures with too much extra power'." Without noticing, she let disgust into her voice, and she didn't notice Vash's gaze as George replied to that with interest.

"What, did somebody actually say that?" 

"Don't worry, he paid for that one," she assured him.

"So what," Vash began, "you don't believe that plants are weaker creatures?"

"Of course not. They're not batteries," she said, then bit her tongue. She was giving herself away! She was lucky she didn't say 'We're not batteries', or that would have gotten him very suspicious. She looked at him with one brow raised. "Why; do you?"

He shook his head. "I'm just surprised."

She smiled. "I do that a lot," she told him. 

"Right, well, let's keep going," George went on. "This one handles the main power supply, with those four surrounding it adding extra power for when we need it. That fifth one in the back is storing extra power just in case. . ."

He was still talking, but Glory found she couldn't pay attention any longer. She could feel that Vash was looking at her again, trying to figure her out. At one point she felt him try to search her with power, but resisted responding. She pretended to not notice him, to be absorbed in the plants, but with every second she was focusing more and more on her elder brother. She could only pray that her powers were still above his and she could hide still.

Vain hopes, perhaps, but hope was a large part of her life.

~*~

Chapter four is short, yes, but I couldn't figure out what else to add. The chapter title is stupid, I know. Again, I couldn't think of anything better. It was untitled for some time. 

On a positive note, I found a site to host my pictures! Go check it out. It has all sorts of art there. www.deviantart.com, my name being DragonsLover1. If you want to see anime art, go under "Indy art" and then "anime". I'm not quite sure if they have a search yet, (not there right now) but I know they have a browse. 

Short chapter, but I UPDATED!!! Man, Glory's feeling so neglected right now. And I'm sorry guys, but lately I've been devoting myself mostly to Transformations, since so many people are going nuts over it. If you haven't read it yet, you might want to. People keep telling how they read it all in one sitting and got hooked and so on. I must be a better writer than I thought. 

Bye!


	5. Family Reunion

****

The Usual Disclaimer: I do not own Trigun, Meryl, Milly, Wolfwood, Rem, Knives, or Vash, as much as I wish I owned one particular character. . . .Oh, well. I can dream, can't I? 

****

Glory

Chapter Five: Family Reunion

Glory muttered angrily to herself as she laid on the roof she'd claimed. Vash was really getting to her. It wasn't just that she wasn't good with plans, or that he was her brother, or even that he knew nothing of their bond. It seemed to be more like his plant powers getting the better of him and leading his instincts to be suspicious of her. 

And what was worse, she kept slipping. One slip up wasn't too bad, two could be overlooked, and three she might be able to cover up, but Vash was no fool. He never was. He knew there was a large something that she was hiding - and that she was hiding it from _him_ particularly. He'd probably known from the very beginning.

She was getting weaker, as well. She wanted to respond to him, to just blurt out why she was here and all the secrets she'd been keeping. Especially the large one about Rem. He needed to know about that one, and she was keeping it from him like that'll help any! But she couldn't tell him. Nobody who knew of Rem was alive anymore; Knives had seen to that personally. If she just began talking about Rem, out of nowhere, she'd have to tell Vash everything.

She sat up sharply, wincing both in pain and at her own stupidity. She rubbed her back where the chain had been pressed into her skin and shook her head. More or less, her part in this story was over and she could get rid of it, tell Vash and watch as he and Meryl begin writing a new book, so to speak. 

__

Knives. She'd nearly forgotten about him being injured and living with Vash and those two women. She had no idea why she thought of him now. It was almost one of her mothers' orders, forcing her to remember him and think about him.

Knives really wasn't a bad person. She'd known that from the beginning. But Knives had let Steven rule his life. And what was worse, he probably didn't even realize it. He'd let a man hardly worth the title of "human" to determine his course in life. A human who was frightened by anything different and who - by all logic - shouldn't have been awake on that ship. Anyone who goes into space should know of and understand that there are aliens out there, and yet Steven couldn't seem to deal with it.

And now Knives was a homicidal maniac. Because of one man who couldn't grasp the fact that aliens were everywhere and that some of them were smarter than humans, Knives had damned the entire human population.

All he really needed was a turn in the right direction, though.

Glory sighed and stood up. Just what could you call a "turn in the right direction" when it came to Knives? Knives, the plant who believes humans destroy everything they come in contact with, that humans needed to die, and who had believed this for a hundred and thirty years. Knives, who killed Rem's only living relative, shot off Vash's arm, gave it to Legato, raised eleven more Gung ho Guns, and declared war on his twin brother?

There didn't seem to be any direction to turn him. The only thing Glory could ever do for him would be to tell him what she had learned, but that had to wait until she could tell Vash. 

Suddenly everything felt very complicated.

Sighing again, Glory picked up her boomerang and leapt off the roof, headed for the outskirts of the town. She walked at a slow pace, and kept going until the city was only _just _within a human's sight. She needed distance from the town if she wanted to practice.

Taking a breath to steady her mind and body, she waited a moment and lunged forward, taking two steps before throwing her boomerang as hard as she could away from the town. It soared up high and went nearly out of her field of vision before turning around. Eyes on the curve it was taking she moved, sidestepping and moving backwards as she put herself in the path. At the last moment she reached up and caught the sash that was wrapped around either end, spinning halfway and crouching to absorb the impact.

She hardly waited a second before spinning back up and throwing it again, at another angle. Following the path again she caught it, this time only twisting and not crouching. She threw it a third time, higher this time, and had to jog back to get back into its path.

She continued this, catching and throwing and putting control into her arm, trying almost vainly to control the exact angles of the giant bone boomerang. The sun was set when she finally stopped, sweating and panting, and fell to her knees, her hands and arms aching. As always she practiced with both arms, though her left arm was half as efficient as her right. Both her palms were throbbing and begging to not be used again.

Wincing at the pain, she set down the boomerang and took off her gloves, closely inspecting her palms. They were red, but that seemed to be it. Her palms were heavily scarred from all the time she'd spent throwing and catching when she first thought of it. It had left her hands without the wrinkles a normal humanoid would have, and without whole fingerprints. And just now it stung, telling her how hard she'd pushed herself.

But practicing always got her thoughts in order, and she was pretty sure she had a way of getting everything done right. 

"Is that what happens when you practice too much?" a voice said from behind her, although she'd already jumped up by the second word.

She knew who it was by the voice, but her body was moving instinctively, making her spin and hold up a defensive pose. She sighed, relaxing her body and allowing herself to continue panting until she got her breath back. "Vash," she sighed. "God, you scared me," she added, looking at him. "Don't sneak up on me."

"Well, I thought you'd hear me coming up," he said. 

He's testing me, she thought. "Well, usually I do, but I was distracted this time."

"Ah." He tilted his head slightly. "I've been looking for you," he admitted. "I was going to ask you to join us for dinner, and share your theories with us."

__

He is _testing me, _Glory thought, straightening. _He's waiting for me to reveal myself. _"I don't see why not," she said as though it meant nothing to her. "Sure, I'll join. But I have to get my boomerang up safe and - oh, damn," she said while snapping her fingers.

"What?"

"I don't have anything else to wear, other than what I've got." She made an apologetic gesture with her hands but Vash just waved his hands back.

"It doesn't matter. We're not going out anywhere."

"Oh, good." After a moment she added, "Are you going to tell me when and where or do I have to go house-to-house?"

He laughed but told her, and Glory waved him off. 

"Tonight, then," she whispered. "Congratulations, Vash. You've made a move. That's two points now." She was smiling as she put her gloves back on and got ready to go to dinner at Vash's house.

~*~ Later ~*~

Glory waited patiently outside the house until the door opened, revealing Milly, cherry as ever. She practically sang as she invited Glory to come in and take a seat, and was very nearly dancing as she left the room, calling for Vash and Meryl. Glory sat down on the couch and sighed, glad to feel softness for once. She rarely received such a pleasure. She was entirely too used to hard, cold, stone or concrete surfaces. 

It didn't last long. Soon Meryl and Milly showed up again, and finished setting up the dinner table as Vash came into view, pushing an immobile Knives in a wheelchair. Glory tried to get up, but found it took two tries to get herself convinced that she _had _to get up. Vash laughed at her efforts and began introductions.

"That's Milly, with the brown hair," he said, nodding at the kitchen. Milly paused to wave.

"The giant of a woman?" Glory asked.

He laughed again. "Yeah, but you're more of a giant."

"Sit down and rotate," she sneered back at his expression. 

She got him. His expression went blank as he thought of that one, obviously having never heard it before. After a while he shook his head. "I'll just say 'no thanks' to that one."

"Clever," Glory said back. 

"And this is Knives," he added, gesturing at the lump still unmoving in the chair.

"What is he, paralyzed?" she asked, crouching and looking at him.

She received an extremely cold and malicious glare from Knives as Vash replied. "For the time being. He's got four gunshot wounds, in his shoulders and thighs."

Glory whistled. "Is he one of the victims or did he deserve it?" she asked as she stood up again.

Vash seemed to not be able to respond to that. "A little of both," he finally admitted.

"He deserved it!" Meryl said from the kitchen.

"Dinner's done! Come and get it!" Milly caroled. 

Glory grinned and winked at Knives, who was glaring up at her. _Tell Vash anything you learn about me and you're going out the window,_ she told him. She caught him blink, surprised if not stunned that she could use thoughts as a means to communicate, and at what she knew he could feel inside of her. In no time he'd come to the conclusion that she was a plant, like him, but more shocks lay ahead and now it was dinner time. 

She sat down where instructed and chatted as she ate, as did everybody. The women grew comfortable fast with her, with the jokes Glory kept spouting and fast comebacks. It felt like any household meal, the typical clichéd family feast for the typical clichéd family. Afterwards Vash ushered Knives back to his room, and the girls went to theirs to get ready for bed. 

Vash got a bit of a surprise when he came back out. Glory was lying half-on, half-off the couch. Her left leg was over the arm from the knee down, her right arm and leg were hanging limply off the cushions, and her left was arm was thrown over her chest. She was half-asleep already, loving the softness of the couch much more than sand, concrete or stone. All three of which she was used to by now.

"Glory?" Vash asked, softly, trying not to wake her if she'd fallen asleep.

Glory's eyes snapped open and she blinked a few times before sitting up. "Oh, Vash," she said. She glanced at the couch and found herself blushing. "Sorry, I didn't mean to just. . .flop over like that." A laugh escaped her throat.

"Well, if you're tired," Vash reasoned, "you can stay here for the night. We probably won't be able to feed you in the morning, but -"

"No, it's no problem," she interrupted, standing. "It's just been a while since I've slept anywhere soft. I normally don't get the chance." She stood up. "Besides, I've got to check on my charge again. But I'll see you tomorrow, most likely, so don't be surprised if I tackle you," she added with a wink. 

Vash laughed, too, and - believe it or not - escorted her outside. He waved her off and shut the door when she rounded a corner. Sighing, he leaned against the door and let his mind drift. That woman was the oddest person he'd met. Every time he convinced himself there was nothing out of the ordinary about her, she did or said something to make him think otherwise. And every time he told himself that she was potentially dangerous, and secretive, she did or said something to disprove him again. He'd never been so confused before. 

If Glory were acting, then she was a wonderful actress with a skill that could win her anything she desired. If not, then she was insane to an extent, or possibly disturbed. She seemed nice enough, being friendly and acting as though nothing in the world could sour her mood, and not taking anything or anyone - most of all herself - too seriously. 

She never pushed too far with her questioning, never went too far with her jokes, never insulted someone beyond the normal boundaries of friendship. But as well, she never answered certain questions to the full extent, avoided direct questions, and kept a certain mental and physical distance between herself and others.

Of course, if he thought about it in another perspective, he could see that one might think the same of himself, but he had a strong, legitimate reason for keeping a distance. Thinking along those lines, it just might be that Glory was a plant, such as himself. The only problem was that she didn't feel like a plant, or more pointedly, she didn't feel like Knives or the plants in bulbs he'd met. On top of that, none of the plants he met ever mentioned Glory or anyone like her. Still, it was possible that Glory asked them not to say anything, if purely for her own protection. Who knows what would have happened if she were a plant and Knives had learned of her.

But Knives hadn't said anything about Glory, verbally or mentally. There wasn't a notion in his mind all night about feeling anything odd about Glory. But again, there could be another side to that story. Knives could very easily be biding his time or developing another plan, one that involved Glory and as such kept Vash far enough out of his mind that he wouldn't sense any thoughts that concerned Glory.

Or maybe Vash were simply putting too much thought into this, over reading the situation. Glory might be, by all standards, just another human living out their life on this planet. But that would make Glory an extraordinary human. She said, herself, that she was protecting somebody, somebody who she couldn't talk about or mention. Somebody who apparently needed to be taken care of, possibly without even knowing about her being there and watching over him or her. 

Something struck him, then, just a thought. But it hit a nerve and seemed to bring up all the little details he'd put aside since the day he and Knives had gone their separate ways. At times he could _feel _that something out there was trying to make everything easy for him, but until now he thought it was Rem, being his guardian angel. 

Could he be the one Glory mentioned, the one she was putting above herself and doing everything she could to protect from behind the scenes?

~*~

Okay, here's the deal. DeviantArt got remodled a bit, so here's the change: "Indy Art" has been changed to "Traditional Art" but the rest is the same. I think. I didn't browse through it and I haven't uploaded anything new. I suppose I'll do that next time. This time. Last time. Whatever. 

~DL~


	6. Revelations

****

The Usual Disclaimer: I do not own Trigun, Meryl, Milly, Wolfwood, Rem, Knives, or Vash, as much as I wish I owned one particular character. . . .Oh, well. I can dream, can't I? 

****

Glory

Chapter Six: Revelations

Glory sighed and rolled over, wishing she had chosen to sleep on the couch at Vash's. She regretted not taking him up on his offer, but it was too dangerous - for everyone. By the time Knives had been sent to his room for the night she could feel that he'd figured her out. _And_, she admitted painfully, _I'm not as mentally strong as him. Mother had to quickly give birth to me, otherwise Vash might very well be dead now. I didn't spend as much time developing in her womb. Vash and Knives spent the full eight months necessary; I got only four. I had barely enough time to age enough to gain rational thought before I was frozen. _

Sighing again, she rolled over and shut her eyes, a lone tear escaping despite her efforts. _Why did it have to be me?_ she wondered. She'd thought of this many times in the past. Why she had to watch over Vash, what exactly happened between the twins to make them so hostile around each other. Why - especially - that she had to live her life almost through the eyes of another, because from the moment she could think straight she'd been protecting Vash whenever he had to be. 

They say, whoever "they" are, that time flies when you're having fun. Her life went by too quickly, but she hardly ever had "fun". She was working. So, then, is it not true that time flies while you work? Probably not. A lot of people who work can't wait to get off - but that's why time goes so slow for them.

The realization hit her and she had to laugh. Time passed by quickly for her because there was never before a time to "get off work". And really, with how Vash moved across the planet and constantly got himself into trouble - consciously or no - there seemed to never be enough time. She always had to rush to his aid, to push herself beyond her own limits at times, to rest only briefly before having to run to him again. It was exhausting work, but in the end, she mused, all of it would be worth it. 

She gained valuable knowledge and experience along the way, and learned of powers that neither Knives nor Vash knew of - but there were reasons behind that, too. Knives wanted only to destroy, so he didn't bother to learn what else the plants could do. And Vash never wanted to use his powers in the first place; he was content pretending to be human, meeting their expectations and moving on. 

Glory became so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't notice another mind in her own head, listening acutely and stealthily. If she'd have felt it, analyzed it, she'd have known who it was and why he was doing it, but instead she let her thoughts drift from one subject to another until sleep gathered around her, and with the grace of a cloud passing, she was asleep. 

Vash leaned heavily against the door, not having moved much since Glory left nearly an hour ago. Although his own ideals protested against it, he'd listened carefully at what Glory was thinking. She wasn't guarding her mind in the least, and as such, he caught thoughts below her surface ones, and could hardly believe what he'd learned.

__

There are other plant powers?

Glory and I share the same mother?

Eight months of conception?

. . .Rem?

His thoughts layered thickly in his mind, jumping from one subject to the next. So Glory was his sister, his younger sister, and made a promise to protect him from their mother. She knew of plant powers that he and Knives hadn't even thought of, but what they were he couldn't say. Her life went by much too fast for her, just because he was always running from place to place. And Rem was somehow involved in all of this, in this complicated life that Glory was living. 

__

I have a sister, he realized, and found himself smiling. _A little sister! That's why I've been feeling such kinship with her! Not just because she's a plant, but because she'd my sister! Mine and Knives'! _He caught himself there, hoping Knives wasn't poking around in his head as he'd been with Glory a moment ago. No one could ever predict what Knives would say at such news, or any at that. 

Nonetheless, as he went to bed finally, he was still smiling. In the morning, the first thing he wanted to do was run up to her and hug the life out of her. Of course he couldn't; she obviously had some sort of plan, some way to ease herself into his life before breaking the news. And truly, it would have been better if he hadn't known so early on - it was a bit of a shock as it was. And still, she included Rem in her thoughts, but in a different light than being the woman who raised himself and Knives. Whatever it was, she seemed to be unconsciously keeping her thoughts from putting too much detail into that memory.

It didn't matter, really. He'd ask her about it later, or wait for her to tell him about it. But he'd think about that in the morning - for now, he was tired as it was. Until tomorrow, then. 

~*~ Next morning ~*~

Something was wrong. 

Glory's eyes snapped open as she felt it, a cry of help - but this was different from Vash's mental begging. This was a shout, and from someone else - someone else Glory remembered quite clearly from not a day ago. It was the main Plant, the one who issued the most power. And she was terrified.

Cursing, Glory stood up sharply and woke herself up as she ran to the plant. Along the way she noticed people grouping here and there, staring at the plant - and Vash was already there, looking shocked and a little helpless. Meryl stood beside him, clutching his good arm. Glory stopped beside him and was about to ask what was going on, but what she saw held her still. 

The Plant was wired with bombs. A man stood beside it, holding the trigger, his thumb over it and he was making a speech. Glory didn't hear it, but caught his gist. He believed that humans had entrapped the plants, forced them into submission, and that they needed to be freed. The main engineer was trying to calm the man without snapping, hands outstretched in calming motions. 

"Just put the trigger down," he was saying. "Believe me, these Plants aren't being hurt. They make power; he harvest it. We're not hurting them. If they wanted out, they'd be out already. They're happy," he added, but that sent Mr. Trigger over the edge.

"You don't know what you're saying!" he claimed. "They need to be _free_!" he shouted, punctuating this by pressing the button.

Everything happened at once. Glory shouted "NO!!" at the same time Vash did, and Meryl gasped, eyes widening. A surge of electricity followed the line to the Plant, and Glory heard the mental scream of the Plant. Glory ran forward without thinking and knocked down the man, both hoping to hurt him and keep him from getting blasted. Everyone crowded around the plant ducked or ran, and then Glory looked up and saw Vash going towards the plant, with Meryl knelt down where she'd been standing. Glory was gathering breath to yell - Vash outstretched his hand - Meryl yelled - the Plant exploded.

The forced knocked Vash straight off his feet, and back several feet, landing a short way behind Meryl. Glory had covered the man with her body and her head with her arm, and looked up the moment the force passed by. Shaking, she stood, slowly trying to grasp what had just happened. It was had to believe even as she saw the plant, glowing white and floating down to the ground as slow as Glory's mind was working.

Tears brimming, Glory stepped forward, chocking back her cries and reached out, arms enfolding the Plant in her grasp and dropping to her knees. Large green eyes looked up at her, and Glory shook her head at the incoming thought. "No, it's over," she assured the glowing being in her arms. Another moment and she nodded, tears falling. "I know," she whispered. "I was too late." 

"Glory. . ."

She heard her name faintly, but knew who said it. The plant turned her head, looking up at Vash, standing stiffly not five feet away. Glory sensed them speaking, but didn't listen. It was wrong to listen to other people's final conversations. . . .

The thought came from somewhere outside her numb mind, and she stared at the Plant she held as people began murmuring and staring in awe. Presently the Plant looked at Glory again, and spoke briefly. Glory shook her head, eyes shut, and brought the Plant closer to her as she dropped her head. "Yeah, I know," she said. Again the Plant spoke, and she smiled. "Thank you," Glory whispered. 

And then the Plant shut her eyes, relaxing, and made a final thought to Glory, one she'd never forget. _I've become tired. I sleep now?_

"Yes," Glory whispered, shakily. She lifted her head and offered a smile. "You can sleep now."

Glory had never before seen a Plant die. For that matter, she'd never held onto one. Touching the Plant felt like the pins-and-needles feeling, probably overwhelming to a human, and while she held hers and the Plant's powers were absorbed into one another, constantly being shared. But she was as helpless as the Plant on how to save her. How she died was possibly the most spectacular thing Glory ever witnessed, as well as the saddest.

She exploded. In a brilliance of white specs, the Plant exploded and then the specs remained where they were a moment, just glittering as the human onlookers gasped and stared. And then the tiny dots all regrouped, higher this time, and began spinning. As it did so the specs once again returned, swirling like a beautiful tornado. A single spec of light went out to each person standing by, excepting Vash and Glory. When at last the specs regrouped a second time the power of the Plant had risen to at least twenty feet, and then slowly fell. A last thought issued into Glory's mind, an impossible thing, and Glory took off her gloves as the spec dropped.

__

I heal you.

Still smiling sadly, Glory lifted her hands and caught the drifting spec, and entwined her fingers around it. The light shown brighter, escaping between her fingers, and then faded entirely. She lifted her clenched hands to her forehead and choked back a sob. "Thank you," she whispered, hardly a sound, and for a moment, she just sat there. 

It was a while later when Vash knelt down beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Glory?" he asked. 

Glory looked up at him, and at any other time she would have burst out laughing. All things considered, Glory looked much more like Vash's twin than Knives' did, and now it was proven. Both she and Vash's faces were streaked with tears, eyes sad and a smile to match. 

"What did she do?" Vash asked, quietly.

Slowly Glory's finger released, and she opened her palms to him. Where just this morning they were still a little sore and covered in scars, now they were perfect, fingerprints whole and wrinkles back. To any observer, no one would think she had ever hurt her hands in her life. Only she, Vash and a few select others knew anything different.

"I think it's time for an explanation," Vash went on, as quietly as ever.

Glory nodded and got up, not trusting herself to speak so soon. Nonetheless, she stopped to look down at the man who had cause all of this, but she didn't try to harm him. "Your intentions were good," she said, "albeit foolish. In that light I won't hurt you for this, although don't expect me to be so kind next time we meet. I'll try not to harm you, though I can't make promises, seeing as how you're going to be hurt enough by the people of this town. You just killed their main source of power. Don't be surprised if you're banished."

Saying all she could, all she wanted to, she began walking again, stopping only when Vash did to help up Meryl. 

It was some time later when they all regrouped, standing inside Vash's latest house. Knives and Milly were both present as well, Glory thinking it best that they be here as well. She made a detour to grab her boomerang, but other than that, no one stopped or paused. And now she had a lot to tell.

She spoke to Vash first, wanting to know what he already found out, and Knives as well. They both had already found out the basic gist, and now all Glory had to do was fill in the details. With everyone now sitting, as she'd instructed, she started slowly, trying to start as far back as she knew - before Rem had volunteered to leave Earth and stay awake to help all she could. 

"There was a huge reason why she wanted to stay up," Glory told them. "It wasn't because she wanted to watch the humans or help everybody any way she could. It was because she _couldn't_ be frozen, like all the others." Ignoring the shock on Vash's face and the surprise on Knives', she continued. "Rem was a plant, like us - probably the first," she informed them bluntly. "And at the time, she was also pregnant."

~*~

Oh, you hate me, don't you? Well, don't hate anymore! I have planned to upload this chapter and the next together. Granted, to my current knowledge this is just a plan, and may have changed by the time you guys read the next chapter but. . .Ahhh!!!! Too complicated!!!! *Grabs head*

Vash: I got it.

Me: *Groans* Glory!

Glory: Yes?

Me: Why is Vash here? I thought you were taking to the amusement park.

Glory: He wouldn't get lost, so I had to bring him back.

Vash: Hey!!

Me: But I thought you liked having the family together?

Knives: It sucks!

Glory: YOU try following Vash here for a hundred and thirty years, and see how much YOU like hanging out with him.

Me: Why didn't you dump him on Meryl?

Glory: *Keeps talking as the screen fades and Vash whines*

~DL~


	7. Rem Saverem

****

The Usual Disclaimer: I do not own Trigun, Meryl, Milly, Wolfwood, Rem, Knives, or Vash, as much as I wish I owned one particular character. . . .Oh, well. I can dream, can't I? 

****

Glory

Chapter Seven: Rem Saverem

"From what I know, she was found, not born. This family found her in a field of flowers - and I'll bet you can guess which type," she added at Vash. "They adopted her, but kept just about everything a secret - with good reason. A little later she learned a lot about her powers, and tried to use them for everyday things, mainly focused on trying to keep the earth in good condition. It was hard for her to accept that the earth eventually had to be abandoned, but once they had all the humans ready to go, naturally she wanted to come with.

"Sometime before she thought that having a few extra of herself would help greatly, and it was like wishful thinking - once she thought it, she found herself pregnant. But she was on the ship before she could give birth. I still don't know how she hid it - I guess we just don't show. And again, I'm not sure how she did it, but she managed to give birth to you two and then make everyone else believe that you were found. 

"She actually did a wonderful job of pulling it off. Everyone believed that you two were some sort of anomaly, born outside of a bulb - and twins, at that! She convinced them all that having you around could be nothing but good, given how well the other Plants worked with them. Plus this was a great opportunity to study an entirely new species, so to speak. In a way, we are an entirely new species, if you think about it.

"She tried to be a mother without making it obvious. She liked Knives mainly because he always seemed to be listening, whereas Vash here was so curious he would follow a caterpillar around, hoping to see it build a cocoon," Glory added with a laugh. "Nonetheless, she could feel that Knives was growing more and more. . .distrusting with every day," Glory tried, hoping to word it right. "She got more wishful thinking, this time wishing that there was another child on board, a little girl - or someone at least to show him how to care for someone so young and well, helpless.

"She wasn't expecting to get pregnant again, but it was a blessing in disguise, really. She could feel Steve getting more vicious towards Vash and Knives with each day, and knew something bad was starting to build up. Even when she plastered on a happy face and kept everything hidden, she was working on _me_, getting me developed faster and hoping to give birth before that 'bad thing' happened." Glory sighed. 

"It worked, at least. I stayed quiet in her room, hiding from the camera, and she'd teach me everything she thought I should know whenever she got the chance. Shortly after she gave Vash his first hair cut, though, she felt something sort of. . .snap in Knives, and figured out that it was too late. It crushed her, but she sent me in one of those pods and made me promise to look after Vash."

Glory took a deep breath. "She might have chosen not to if she'd known that Knives was planning on killing everyone on the ship, and on every other one. Probably she was the most worried about _me_, about me dying in the crash and never being known by you two. But still, she couldn't let everybody die, even if it meant that she would. I know you two didn't see it, but before the ship exploded she ejected my pod, or something like that. I'm not entirely sure.

"When I woke up, I could hardly see, and couldn't remember what had happened or why I was lying on sand. It actually took me a few years to remember my promise, after I'd gotten to a ship and some bigger clothes. At first I couldn't find you, mainly because I couldn't find any sign that you two were even still alive. I'd nearly given up hope that you made it out alright - and then I saw something. It was a huge explosion, and not very far away. Not a minute later I heard you two for the first time - and you were fighting, arguing. I was terrified that one of you had killed the other when I heard that gunshot, but it was just Knives with a thigh wound. I would have stayed with him for a bit, but I'd promised to watch over Vash, so I had to follow you. It was dumb luck that Knives didn't feel me then, or see me run by.

"During the time between then and July, I found this," Glory said, gesturing her boomerang. "I practiced with it in my spare time, which was actually quite a bit at the time. And I had plenty of time afterwards, before you got back from the Flying Ship. Just about everything else you know."

With that said, Glory leaned back, letting them all know she was done. No one spoke for a minute, but there was a lot of thinking and shifting nervously. 

"Did the humans treat you harshly?" Knives asked, finally. There wasn't concern in his voice, more like his point would be proven if she answered a certain way.

"Where there is intelligence, there will always be evil," Glory quoted. "Naturally, some people were intimated. And fear leads to a need to destroy what you fear, if it's possible. So yes, some humans were cruel. I suppose I was in certain cases, though. And you're hardly one to talk about who's been cruel," she added with narrowed eyes.

"Don't start," Vash said, before Knives could reply. Another few moments of relative peace ensued, and then Vash grinned and stood up. He gestured for Glory to get up and said, "I've been wanting to hug you for a while now." Glory grinned right back and wrapped her arms around Vash's middle, and even giggled. 

They stepped back after a moment and Glory spoke next. "Yeah, well, I've been waiting to do _this_ for a few decades!" she exclaimed, reaching up to ruffle his hair and laugh madly. 

Vash, Meryl and Milly all laughed as Knives glared up at Glory, but it took just a moment for Vash to retaliate and spin Glory and then grab her, holding her back against his chest while successfully pinning her arms against her own chest. 

"You're sickening," Knives said, darkly. 

Everyone turned a glare on him, and Glory sneered. "No wonder you're sour. You never even _tried_ to play around with Vash, did you? Your loss," she added, looking uninterested as she looked away. Hiding a smirk, she leaned forward and spun, throwing Vash over her shoulder, who let go of her and landed with a thud on his back. Before he could get up Glory was sitting beside him, her right leg folded on his chest and arms crossed. 

"Hey!" was all Vash said, and then pouted. "That's not fair."

"Prove it," Glory returned. She generally only said that when she was smug in victory, believing that she won and the defeated one couldn't get up again.

But Vash got up again, and took their roughhousing all over the room, while Milly watched and laughed, Meryl winced as things got knocked down, and Knives looked on with a glare and jealousy hidden in his eyes. 

It lasted maybe another five minutes with dozens of pins in between before Meryl called a halt to Vash and Glory's game. Shaking on a truce, they let it end and then had a ten-minute debate on who won this time. Let's give you a peek. . .

"So what if you're faster?" Glory said. "I've had more fighting experience."

"Speed wins," Vash argued. "And I got you in better pins."

"And I got out of all of them; what's that say?"

"That I have a lot of mercy."

"Liar."

"I don't lie."

"Prove it."

"I swear on God's nightshirt."

Glory laughed hysterically. "You're so funny, and I bet you know that. But _I_ won."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"You did not."

"Oh, I so did!"

"No, sorry, but you lost."

"I won, jackass."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

Meryl called a halt to their 'debate' as well. She recruited Vash in helping her shop - or rather, carry the stuff back - and had Milly help her with lunch. Glory waved off the food, saying she had more than enough money to feed herself for a day. But somehow, Vash talked her into eating just about everything he put in front of her, including: four sandwiches, two bags of chips, three glasses of lemonade and four sugary snacks. Being used to stuffing herself rotten on occasion, Glory had no problem - but warned Vash that she wouldn't be able to eat dinner or all of tomorrow. Sure, she _could_, but it would throw off her timing. 

She left for a bit after lunch, helping to clean up the broken shards of glass that once was the home of a Plant she was particularly fond of. About an hour after she left Vash took Knives for a walk, if you could call it that. He stopped by the ruined plant along the way and helped out Glory for a short while, until Glory warned him that Knives was getting impatient. However, Vash refused to leave until Glory agreed to come with, too. Something about wanting to spend some time with his family alone.

He took the walk up to a certain mountain, one Glory recognized from several points over her life. It greatly resembled the ingrained path where Legato had died, but it dropped at the edge - directly into a large chasm that was perhaps four hundred feet wide and at least fifty feet long. It was anybody's guess how deep it was; no one had dared to go down there, afraid that it was bottomless and they would fall. Glory had gone down there once, and only a one hundred, seventy-eight feet before she got bored with it. 

It was nearly sunset, and the sky was changing colors as the bottom sun began drifting below the horizon. Glory and Vash there for a while before Glory sat down beside Knives, and Vash followed suit on his other side. A few more minutes of silence stretched out before Glory reached up and took Knives' hand, trying to convey that she felt family was more important than just about anything, and hoping he got the right message. 

And, amazingly, Knives cracked a smile, relaxing more in his wheelchair and looking out over the chasm to where the sand disappeared. Glory chanced a look over at Vash, who looked shocked that she got Knives to be nice for once, and a little jealous of it. But isn't that what little sisters do? Help hold their family together? If she could get Knives to soften even the tiniest bit, then there was a large chance that he'd take more to Vash's type of thinking.

And Glory wanted nothing more than to be a happy family. She didn't mind it if Knives didn't become a complete 'Vash' - hell, it was better that there was just one of Vash - and really, she wasn't a complete Vash either, much as she looked up to him or remained loyal to him. 

Sometime ago she woke up one morning with a strong realization - if she were ever to find a mate or husband, he would probably be a lot like Vash, with a goofy sense of humor, an oddball obsession, fit body type and amazing fighting skills when necessary. She just hoped he wouldn't be such a facial contortionist. 

Biting back a laugh, Glory looked back over the horizon and thought about everything, everything that had happened since she woke up that morning over a century ago. A lot had happened, indeed. At times she still gazed back over her life with wonder; how had she hidden from Vash and Knives all these years? How was it that she didn't just go running up to them and hug the life out of them? Was her control that developed? And now that she was here, how had she ever lived without being like this, just like this? 

The questions were rhetorical. She had to do all those things; she had no choice. It was business before pleasure, honor before life. She had a promise to keep, and now that she's kept it, she no longer had to hide, hold back or look back. She had her brothers here, although one was a homicidal maniac who wanted to kill all humans, and they other kept preaching about how no one should ever die. Yin and yang. 

"You two really do belong together," she said aloud. "You're perfect opposites."

"I'm working on that," Vash laughed.

"This is all I've wanted," Knives said, nodding towards the sunset, now that the bottom sun was out of sight. "Us, alone and unthreatened."

"Including me?" Glory asked, softly.

Knives looked at her. "Now that I know of you, yes." He shot a glare at Vash. "Even my pain of a brother."

"You started this," Vash pointed out.

"Don't start again," Glory said, quoting Vash from earlier. 

"Just like this," Knives went on. "Is this so bad?"

Glory didn't know how to respond to that.

"Your intentions were good," Vash said, obviously having no problems coming up with a comeback. "But that's still no excuse."

"Plus," Glory added, "you have to admire the humans. After everything they've been through, they're still living. On a planet that couldn't hold life; after destroying their original planet; through harsh days and cold nights. . . They obviously don't want to die out."

"Let's stop talking about the humans," Knives interrupted, aggravated at the line of speaking that was turned against him.

Was it so bad to think that humans deserved to die? They've done everything wrong, but as Glory said, they're still living. One in three of them have bad intentions, even evil ones, which is what made it so easy to find twelve gung ho guns. Steve had probably been the worst, and it was true that after Steve attacked him that it was what made him come up with a permanent opinion of the humans. Granted, it was a bad one, and he'd been rash to try and destroy them all so quickly, with so little planning. And he was sorry that Rem, their mother, had died trying to save them all. He hadn't wished her death, at the time saying it was because Vash seemed fond of her.

He regretted Rem's death, even before now, before he learned that she was their mother. He regretted that he had caused the fall of events that had eventually made her stay on that ship and reverse the thrusters of all the ships. He knew now how she'd been able to do it, and what she'd said as she shut the door and sent he and Vash into space - it was somewhat ironic. "Vash, take care of Knives." And then to Glory, weeks before: "Take care of Vash."

The youngest to watch the middle child; the middle child to watch the eldest. So who was the eldest supposed to watch? Both of them?

It was possible, at least. Knives thought of this as he glanced at Glory and Vash in turn. He couldn't teach Vash anymore, or even try to change his views, which were so deep set in him. But Glory. . . Glory was new to him. He never thought of the possibility of another plant like himself, and even less that it would be female, and then related to him. . . But he could do it. If Glory watched Vash and protected him, and Vash did the same for himself, then he could watch them both and make sure no harm befell either of them.

If that's what Rem wished, then he could do it. Her three children could watch each other and teach each other, and be - heaven forbid - civilized to one another. 

But these humans still had the first place on his Death Wish List.

~*~

DL here saying goodbye and good night! I hope you enjoyed the story thus far! Hmm. . .I might even end it here. Whadaya think? End here, or add more chapters? I think I made it through my point. It seems safe to end it here.

~DL~


	8. Nicholas D Wolfwood

****

The Usual Disclaimer: I do not own Trigun, Meryl, Milly, Wolfwood, Rem, Knives, or Vash, as much as I wish I owned one particular character. . . .Oh, well. I can dream, can't I?

****

Glory

Chapter Eight: Nicholas D. Wolfwood

Glory laughed, watching Vash. He was trying to do the things she'd done moments before, trying to teach him some of the Plant powers she'd learned over time. She didn't know many attacks, but several tricks that were useful for hiding or tricking others. Right now he was trying to levitate a chair because she made a coaster dart across the room, as though some invisible hand had picked it up and chucked it.

"You're trying too hard," she warned him. "It's going to snap. . ."

Frustrated as he was, he snapped at her. "Will you let me do this?!"

"You're going to snap it," she repeated.

No sooner had she said the words than the chair lifted - and then snapped in several places, becoming a pile of wood. Glory gave a whistle.

"I warned you," she said, trying not to make it sound like _I told you so_.

"She told you so," Knives put in, smirking. Vash was particularly irritated because Knives had tried first, and rather easily spun a candle in the air on his first try. He could get up and walk now, albeit slowly and painfully. It was to be expected from three weeks' worth of healing.

"Don't read my mind," Glory hissed as him. Before Vash could snap like the chair did, she walked over to him and let her hand rest on his good shoulder, eyes shut. She tried to keep his mind calm and relaxed as he tried again, aiming for the table to make it flip over. It took him a few tries but he did it, and yelled in triumph as it set back down.

"Showed you, didn't I?" he demanded of Knives, acting childish for the simple reason that it was always excused.

"Sorry, but no," Knives replied, still smirking.

"Alright then," Glory said, returning to the center of the room. "Vash gets to try first next time." She said this pointedly at Knives, who didn't give in.

"By all means, let him try first," Knives said, lounging happily on the couch. "It will be that much more entertaining when I do better."

Vash gave him a glare and Glory shut her eyes, trying particularly for something she knew Vash would be better at. Lifting her right hand above her head, she called her power as easily as though she were snapping her fingers. A white ball of light gathered in her hands, smallish, and then she dropped her hand to be parallel to the ground and spun, the light becoming a ring. She lifted her hands slowly as she empowered the ring, hands pausing at her shoulders to thrust back down. Her chin lifted as wind-like power rushed up and engulfed her invisibly, and when it ended, Glory sighed sharply and fell to her knees, nearly burnt out.

"And that," she said heavily, "is how you regenerate your body - wounds, blood, skin, muscles. It heals aches and pains and sows gashes."

Vash was beside her already, helping her stand and guiding her towards the couch. "Unfortunately," she added to Knives, "it doesn't instantly heal cuts or gashes, or bullet holes. The most it can do is help your skin gather together over the wound."

"Right," Knives said, but left it at that.

They both watched as Vash tried, mimicking her movements as Glory talked him through it, what to do and when. "You don't have to lift your arm. . .yes, you have to spin. . .don't let go of the power until you feel you have enough. . .take your time. . .Don't worry, you can try again. . . I know, it really wears you out. . ."

Once Vash did it, it was Knives' turn, but dinner was served before he could try. Both Meryl and Milly had been watching and listening to them every now and again as they fixed dinner, and now, as they all sat and ate, they asked questions about how everything was going.

Just a day ago Glory had informed Milly that she was pregnant, and she seemed to be glowing at the knowledge. Knives seemed the most interested though, never having been around a pregnant woman before - well, not to his knowledge, anyway. He was impatient, though, that he couldn't feel the child, and that she wasn't showing. Glory told him that human women generally didn't show until at least two or three months into pregnancy unless it was a case of multiple birth, but that didn't seem to help much. In fact, he'd said,

"So make her have twins or triplets."

He obviously didn't get it. Glory had gone into a full launch about how human women were impregnated, and Knives was looking worse for wear by the end of it. As she'd expected, he didn't ask any other questions for fear of other such answers about sex.

Vash laughed through all of it.

But Milly was starting to get mild cases of morning sickness, and as well, got a little more depressed each day that Nicholas wouldn't be around to see his child, as well as the child never knowing his or her father. That gave Glory an idea, but first she had to teach Vash the rest of his plant powers that she knew of. If she'd known Nick before, this wouldn't be a problem, but she didn't know him personally and couldn't be of much help. That's where Vash came in.

Who knew Nicholas D. Wolfwood better than Vash, who had come to be his model as well as best friend?

Church where Nicholas died, a week later

Glory stood at the doorway and looked inside, smiling at the way Vash had paid respects. There was a single coffin in the center of the church, and a note in the center of the lid. Stepping closer, she read it out loud. "Messenger of God, best friend, perfect man. May you find eternal peace in Heaven. We all love you."

She smiled at Vash over her shoulder and moved to remove the lid, kneeling beside it.

"I can't believe you're doing this," Vash said, coming closer. "It doesn't seem possible."

"Neither does a Plant born outside bulb who lived to give birth to twin boys and a girl," Glory argued, and set the lid to the side. The body inside was cold and slightly shriveled, but not blue or green or discolored at all, really, except for the white skin. As expected, the smell of decomposition came up as she removed the lid, but that was easily ignored.

"Remember why you're here?" Glory asked, looking up at Vash.

"I have to find his soul. But don't you think this is like playing with God's will?"

"Not at all," Glory said. "If God intended for us to fail, then we will. We won't know until we try. Come here; sit down."

After swallowing Vash nodded and sat down beside Glory. Knives stood by the doorway, leaning against the paneling. He came by of his own free will, interested in seeing if they actually had such power as to bring a dead body back to life, and bring its soul back to its body. He was most interested in Chapel's response to such a thing. He himself could curse souls to living forever in between dimensions, before you enter Heaven of Hell but after you leave the plane of the living. It is a dark, dismal place, where only your screams can be heard.

Placing her hands against Nicholas' chest, she shut her eyes and lifted her powers, waking them up and sending them into his body. It grasped his heart first, starting to make it pump and then opened the deflated lungs, making the dead, still form begin breathing. Renewed blood flowed through dried, dead veins and gathered from the back of the body, drawn back into circulation.

This was just the beginning, and the easy part. Now Glory had to make sure every part of him regenerated, including the parts of his brain that had died. Unless she was sure his brain was brought back fully, he wouldn't be fully himself again, with or without his soul.

__

Now, she told Vash. _Find his soul. Only you can. Do it!_

Vash cursed at her rush and sent out his mind as she'd taught him, feeling for souls. He couldn't feel any yet, and strained, reaching out farther and spreading through planes of existence, finding lost souls and pushing through them as he searched for one particular familiar soul.

"Faster, Vash!" Glory prodded. "You have to bring him before he wakes up or his boy will reject him!"

"Patience!" Vash hissed back, feeling carefully around the varied souls. _Wolfwood!_ he exclaimed, and then again and again. _Damnit, where are you?_ he finally shouted, amid the wandering souls. They all kept moving, going in their own directions, and then something sparked in Vash's mind, like a star shimmering.

__

"Needle-noggin?" a familiar voice asked. _"What're you doing here? You're not dead."_

__

It's a long story, Vash replied. _I don't have time to tell you now. Just answer me - do you want to come back, be alive?_

"Do I -" the voice paused there, and then laughed. _"Of course, but how'd you find me? What're you talking about?"_

I can't explain right niow, Vash returned sharply. _Did you know that Milly's pregnant? She misses you. She wants you back._

"Milly? Yeah, I knew. But she still is?" Another pause. _"You can bring me back again?"_

Just follow me, Vash said, reaching out with his power towards Wolfwood's gleam. _I can lead you back. We don't have much time to discuss this._

There was another pause. After a while Wolfwood laughed. _"Take me home, needle-noggin!"_ he said at last, and drew closer to Vash's presence. Vash receded slowly, but at an accelerated rate, and came back to himself so sharply his head snapped back.

Glory gasped sharply and jerked back, her hands burning. The body was alive, eyes partially opened and looking as youthful as ever - perhaps better than before - but she couldn't sense Nicholas' soul yet. Had Vash done it? He'd better have. Glory didn't want to kill this body after it died so unpleasantly those weeks ago.

She looked over at Vash, who was wearing a dazed expression and blinking. He looked back at her and smiled, "I found him. He's coming."

"He'd better get here soon," Glory responded, looking back at the body. Nicholas' head was turning slowly from side to side, gathering bits of information. The body had Nicholas' memories, but without the soul, there was no potential whatsoever. That's why souls were so important; they made you who you are. Without it, you could easily turn in either direction, be it good or evil, sane or mad.

"Come on," she whispered. Slowly her eyes shut and focused on finding rushing souls, and felt just one. It was pointed direction towards Nicholas' body, but was still so far away - and had yet to break through into this plane. With a mental crack that was deafening, it broke the barrier and slammed into the mind of Nicholas' body, and it was all Glory could do to hope that this was Nicholas D. Wolfwood and not a different soul that wanted a body.

Vash's face said it all. With a glance over at him she knew. Nicholas was back, in body in soul. Truthfully, she and Vash were a great team; she brings back bodies, and he finds their souls within the time barrier.

"Welcome back," Vash said, reaching out to help Nicholas sit up.

Wolfwood groaned and rubbed his arm. "It's hard to move."

"And it will be," Glory replied, "until you get those muscles stretched. They've been dead for over three weeks; what do you expect?"

"A better welcome home?" Wolfwood suggested. Looking at her, he added, "And who are you, anyway?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Glory asked, and leaned close to Vash, mimicking his smile, cheek to cheek.

"What, are the triplet?" Wolfwood asked, and slowly got up.

"Little sister," Glory explained, standing as well. Vash put an arm around Wolfwood and helped him walk, but Wolfwood stopped dead when he saw Knives.

"It's Knives," Wolfwood said.

"Chapel," Knives returned.

"Don't worry; he's harmless," Vash promised. "Right now he's recovering."

"From what?" Wolfwood replied, shocked.

"Four gunshot wounds," Glory said, making a gun with her hands and pointing at Knives as Vash and Wolfwood began walking again. She shot four times. "One in each shoulder, one in each thigh. You've been dead for three weeks, as I said. He's lucky to have made it this far and only walking half the way."

"You want to end up in that coffin?" Knives asked, but lifted an arm so Glory could help him limp along.

With her left arm around Knives' waist, she picked up her boomerang - which had been leaning against the paneling opposite Knives - and slung it over her shoulder. The four of them, Glory and Vash helping Knives and Wolfwood, went all the way out to the jeep Glory - err - _borrowed_ for the trip and helped in the two injured males.

Vash took up driver as Knives sighed into the first passenger seat, and Glory sat behind Knives, with Wolfwood still looking like he was in pain in the left back seat. Leaning back, Glory smirked at Nicholas.

"If you need to lay down, go ahead," she told him. "My lap is surprisingly comfy."

Nicholas looked surprised at her, and then gave a laugh. "I think I've slept enough, thank you."

Glory laughed back. "Your loss."

And so ends chapter 8. Like it? How nice of Glory, to have Wolfwood do the Lazarus. If you dunno what that is, here's a little story for you: Lazarus is a man who came back to life. The story gave the word "Lazarus" the meaning of being brought back from the dead, but not as a zombie or vampire. If you need proof, then here.

"Wolfwood" has the spellcheck squiggly red line.

"Lazarus" just needs to be capitalized. Is all good.

As you can tell, I decided to let the story keep going. Better love me, people. Three updates now. (Unless I screwed up in my counting, which I hope I didn't.)

DL


	9. Milly's Present

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The Usual Disclaimer: I do not own Trigun, Meryl, Milly, Wolfwood, Rem, Knives, or Vash, as much as I wish I owned one particular character. . . .Oh, well. I can dream, can't I?

****

Glory

Chapter Nine: Milly's Present

Glory sighed as she struggled to stay awake. It was, after all, her responsibility to make sure Nicholas was taken care of until he was fully functional again, and even while Vash drove, her eyes were drooping. She didn't want to get some sleep; she wanted to double-check Nicholas' stats every time she thought of it. Which reminds her. . .

She glanced over at him, nearly asleep himself. His body needed time to wake up completely and regenerate everything Glory didn't quite reach; only sleeping could do that. He was trying just as hard as she to stay awake, though, she had to give him that. He was leaning heavily against his left fist, elbow propped on the edge of the jeep. Every now and again his eyes would drift shut, and then jerk open again as he struggled against sleep.

In front of her, Knives hadn't bother with fighting to stay awake, simply let himself drift away when he got tired. Vash looked like he was going to be awake until they got back; probably it was something he engrained upon himself over so many years of getting up fast and staying up until he found somewhere to hide - or, more precisely, somewhere where he could feel safe enough, hidden away from the world, to sleep to his heart's content.

She woke up too late uncountable times over the past century, finding him already gone and cursing herself for not having that strange ability. She cursed herself most of all for three particularly hard moments: being too late to stop Knives at July, not getting there soon enough to stop Legato at Augusta, and for failing to get to Legato first when Vash killed him. If you could call it that - technically, didn't Legato commit suicide, albeit through somebody else?

Whatever you call it, with the way it messed with Vash's head, all Glory could do was blame herself for not making there in time. That's what she got for sleeping in, thinking there would be momentary peace after Wolfwood died. But no; Knives just _had_ to make Vash suffer some more by telling Legato to force Vash into killing him.

At least the freak died in the end.

Glory's train of thought continued to drift away until at last she was asleep, eyelids heavy and body going limp. Ahh, cushions, how nice they are.

Next day

Glory woke slowly, eyes blurring, to bright sunlight. The fact that there was no wind told her that they weren't going anywhere at the moment, and Vash was slumped in the driver's seat, head back and mouth slightly open. She looked left and saw Nicholas leaning entirely on her and the back seat, wearing much the same expression as Vash. In front of her, Knives was lifting and dropping his right arm, testing how far it could move.

__

How long have you been up?

Without turning to look at her, Knives replied, _About an hour._

__

How long has Vash been asleep?

Since dawn.

What time is it?

Six or seven. I don't have a watch, he added, in a slightly annoyed way.

Glory sneered at his back and very carefully maneuvered Nicholas to be resting against the cushion and got out, hopping over the side of the jeep. She walked around to the driver's side and - being careful - kept Vash's mind asleep as she moved him to her previous seat, letting him sleep all he wanted. She got in the front and started the jeep, checking the fuel before letting off the brake.

"I don't go slow," she warned Knives. "You save more gas that way."

Knives feigned a look of terror. "Don't kill us all!"

Glory laughed. "I just might, to get some quiet time." With that she added pressure to the pedal and the jeep added a good twenty mph. "We'll be back in no time!" she called to Knives over the rush of the wind.

If there was anybody you didn't want to piss of while driving, it was Glory. She trained herself in doing all sorts of tricks to scare the bejesus out of people, and she prided herself on being able to do it at top speeds. Generally she needed to get used to the vehicle first, but if need be, she could do without it. A jeep wasn't exactly the best choice, but only jeeps could take jumps so well. Dunes were fun when you had a jeep.

She kept the speed at a relatively slow one until both of the back passengers woke up, and then - once they were fully awake - practically floored it. "Hold on!" she yelled as they neared a towering dune, and got launched. All three men yelled protests but it was a little late for that; another second and she landed, sand spraying in every direction and gave the guys whiplash. Glory laughed madly and steered recklessly, scaring the piss out of the guys until Vash and Knives got her to stop and let Vash take over again.

She pouted the rest of the way back, muttering angry curses and damning the male species.

Milly (Almost 1st POV)

She hummed as she and Meryl cleaned off the kitchen table. She missed Mr. Vash and Mr. Knives and Miss Glory, but Miss Glory had said that she had to take Mr. Vash somewhere for a little while, and Mr. Knives had joined in. They've only been gone a day, and she was missing them.

Meryl doesn't miss them. She keeps saying how glad she is to get some peace and quiet, but she really worries about Mr. Vash whenever he's gone. Kind of like how she missed Mr. Priest. But she had Mr. Priest's baby and Meryl didn't have Mr. Vash's baby. If it weren't for the baby Milly just might. . .just might. . .

Well, she might be crying right now.

But Miss Glory had said that she would come back with a present that Milly would just love, something that related somewhat to the baby. Milly was so excited, Miss Glory was getting her a present! Yesterday Milly had finished writing letters saying that she was pregnant to her family, the 'Milly Monthly' letters to her ten brothers and sisters, cousins and aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters-in-law and nieces and nephews. . .she had a big big family, alright!

But what was it that Miss Glory was coming back with? Nothing Milly could think of. Maybe some baby clothes? But she wouldn't need Mr. Vash for that. . .Or maybe something that Vash would have to carry, like a crib and a dresser and baby clothes and blankets and baby toys and -

"Milly, you're blabbering again," Meryl told her, breaking into her thoughts.

Meryl was so funny! "I'm just thinking, Meryl! What do you think Miss Glory and Mr. Vash and Mr. Knives is going to bring back for me? Baby things?"

"Maybe," Meryl said. "Knowing Vash, he's going to help all he can. And knowing Glory, she's got something up her sleeve."

So funny! "But Miss Glory doesn't have sleeves, Meryl. Her shirt is sleeveless and stomach-less."

Meryl made a sound like a laugh and a sigh put together. "I meant metaphorically, Milly."

"Yeah!" Milly said, and then thought about it. "But why would Mr. Knives go, too?"

Meryl shrugged. "I don't know, but the house is better without him around. He's just full of negative energy. If I had to say why he left," she went on, thinking it through, "I'd have to say that he wanted to go because he wants the three of them to be together. Haven't you noticed? Knives apparently really likes the whole 'family' idea."

"He really really likes Mr. Vash and Miss Glory!" Milly agreed happily, and continued chirping on and helping to straighten everything until she heard the door open. "Miss Glory is back!" she yelled. "She's come with my present!" Milly hurried towards the door to see what Miss Glory brought back - and froze.

Glory

"Hey, Milly," Glory said, and gestured Nicholas. "My present to you and your baby, so to speak. Go ahead, Nick. Say hi."

But Nicholas was grinning. "Hi, honey," he said, still learning against Vash. Standing up straight, he opened his arms. "I can't quite make it over there yet. Want to come here and hug me?"

Finally, Milly gave a response. She shrieked in joy and ran for Nicholas, arms outstretched and hit him full force, knocking him back into the wall. She talked too fast to understand and laughed, hugging Nicholas tightly.

Really, Glory was happy for them. They deserve to be a happy family and raise their child within such happiness and love. And Glory hoped she'd still be around to help raise the child, she really did. But one never really knew when it came to herself and her siblings. "I hope you thoroughly enjoy your present, Milly," Glory said as she helped to steer Knives onto the couch.

Vash walked directly into the hall, calling for Meryl to show herself, and got hit with the same type of hug that Nicholas did. Eye filling, Glory grinned at them, eternally happy and grateful that her older brother had found such love, even if his love had a temper to be challenged. As well, she felt envy for Meryl, for she would likely not have such loving hugs in her entire lifetime, most especially from her big brother.

It was rare to find interspecies love, but Vash - through all odds - had done it. He and Meryl would most likely never be separated, even through death. Who knows, maybe Vash could find some sort of power that could make Meryl as immortal as himself.

And Glory would likely never have that. There was such a thin chance of her finding such a thing, mainly because of how the sexes thought. Men had a much harder time of handling such loves, if they learned to love at all. But women would sacrifice everything for love, if they were sure that this love was for them. And looking back, Glory could count endless stories and physical proof of such love. When women found a love worthy of defying death, the men often had that same love, and they lived happily until they both died.

And somehow, Glory knew that she would never find that love for herself, even as she saw it spring up around her. Vash and Meryl, Milly and Nick, Wesley and his wife Laura. . .Dozens and dozens of other people she had met in her lifetime. . . Uncountable romance novels and stories. . .

And none for her.

Oh, boy. Glory doesn't think that she'll ever find love. Who wants to disagree? Agree? Takes all bets Alright. . .categorizing I don't bet, but I'll organize. Writes it all down Yeah yeah. . .I got you. . .and you. . .seven to one, you say. . .That's a bit deep. . . Two hundred?!

DL


	10. Rem's Dream

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The Usual Disclaimer: I do not own Trigun, Meryl, Milly, Wolfwood, Rem, Knives, or Vash, as much as I wish I owned one particular character. . . .Oh, well. I can dream, can't I?

****

Glory

Chapter Ten: Rem's Dreams

Glory sighed as she dreamed, seeing her mother smiling directly at her.

__

"I think it's time to show you something," Rem said, gesturing that Glory come closer. Smiling, Glory did so, until she saw Vash and Knives as well, looking around. Rem continued. _"I want you all to see this," _she said. _"And yes, you're all really here. You could say I brought your minds out of your bodies and into mine. This is a dream I had the day I conceived you, Glory,"_ she said.

Glory grinned. "Does it involve donuts and crazy drivers?" she teased.

Rem laughed. _"No, but knowing you, it probably should. Come closer, please. All of you."_

Obeying, Glory stepped closer, Vash on her right and Knives on her left. As they did so, a scene rushed towards them, an endless grassy plane and blue sky, set with a field of colorful flowers and a single pear tree. The closer they got, the more details Glory picked up. _This must be what Vash and Knives looked like as kids_, she thought, seeing two boys first, one with short cut hair and the other with bright spiked hair. And then she picked out a third form, a little girl with a ponytail holding up wavy blonde hair.

She wore blue jeans and a red shirt, looking about three and wearing sneakers.

As Glory watched, her younger self chased Vash around and around that big tree, with Rem sitting beneath, reading a book and occasionally looking up to see what her children were doing. Presently Knives was crouched at the edge of the flowers, carefully touching a praying mantis and seeing what it did. Glory ran and ran, trying to catch Vash, who was enjoying being out of her reach and the bigger, stronger, faster brother.

And then Glory tripped and stumbled, eventually landing on her right shoulder and skidding across the dirt. She yelped as she hit the dirt and sat up, whimpering, and rubbing her shoulder. Vash stopped and turned around, and knelt in front of her.

"You alright? Glory?" he asked, but Glory didn't look up.

Knives looked up for a moment and then got up, going over to kneel by Glory. He looked at her and then at Rem, who was smiling at them, waiting to see what Knives would do. After another moment Knives turned, his back facing Glory.

"Come on," he said. "Hop on, Glory."

Glory quit whimpering, forgetting about the tears in her eyes, and looked a little uncomprehending at Knives' back. She grinned after another second and leapt forward, grasping Knives' shoulders tightly. Knives stood up, holding her legs, and smiled at Vash. With a glance at Glory, he said, "Now Vash can't catch you."

Vash gave a "Hey!" but Knives was already running, and Vash tried vainly to catch him.

Glory laughed hysterically, entirely trusting that Knives wouldn't let Vash catch them, and at times blew a raspberry at Vash. "Faster!" she cried, enjoying the wind, but Knives was getting tired faster than Vash was, carrying a child half his size around.

After a minute or so Knives stumbled to a halt in front of the flowers and overdramatically fell forward, not letting go of Glory until he was nearly on the ground, arms above his head. Vash began laughing, but Glory looked confusedly down at Knives, wondering why he stopped. Deciding that she wanted to ride him more, she bounced once, and Knives gave a groan. Glory blinked once and then did it again, getting another groan. She had Vash's attention now, and laughed as she bounced several more times on Knives' back.

And then Vash rushed forward and grabbed Glory, lifting her off Knives. He set her down and said, "That hurts Knives, so don't so it, okay?"

Apparently not getting it, Glory just laughed again and hugged Vash, and then pressed her mouth against his neck and blew. It made a farting sound and Vash jerked and laughed hard, and Glory did it again at his response. It continued even when Vash tried to pull away and tripped himself, falling onto his back. Glory paused long enough to watch the fall and think it over, deciding that it was funny as she laughed.

Remembering how Knives reacted when she bounced on his back, Glory came up beside Vash and plopped down on his stomach, and Vash jerked, yelped and then groaned. He tried unsuccessfully to get Glory to stop, and Glory just laughed as she bounced again and again on Vash's stomach, until Knives pulled her off.

He rolled Glory onto her back and began tickling her as Vash caught his breath, and then Glory was laughing hysterically as four sets of fingers tickled her stomach, sides and neck. She pawed at them until she kicked too hard and hit Knives' stomach, who then hunched forward in pain.

"Knives!" Vash said, and then looked at Glory who was looking interested on why Knives stopped so suddenly. "You hurt him, Glory," Vash explained, and Glory looked over at Vash. "You know - hurt. Like how your shoulder felt when you fell."

Suddenly understanding, Glory turned wide eyes on Knives, who was beginning to straighten. Eyes filling, Glory lunged forward to hug Knives, and said, "Sorry, Knives. Glory sorry."

"Hey, it's all right," Knives replied, and looked up at Vash. "I've got an idea, Glory. Want to swing?"

Vash grinned and Glory looked up with the same grin. "Yes!" she said. "Yes! Yes! Swing!"

__

Swing? Glory thought, watching the dream continue playing. She got her answer fairly quickly.

Knives stood up and had Glory face Vash. He grabbed her wrists and Vash grabbed her ankles, and began swinging her from side to side. Glory laughed harder and harder the higher she went.

Rem spoke up. "You two better be careful, boys," she called, her finger on her page. "Don't you hurt her!"

"Don't worry!" Knives called back as Vash said, "Never!"

Glory was having too much fun to hear Rem or the twins. That is, until Knives had another offer.

"Want us to toss you?" he asked.

Glory, standing off to the side, suddenly stiffened. _Toss? What?_ she thought, and glanced at Knives and Vash, who were completely absorbed with the dream Rem was showing them.

Her child self was already screaming multiple yes's, agreeing loudly to the suggestion. Knives nodded at Vash and then the two were swinging Glory even higher, and then Knives began to count.

"3. . .2. . .1!" And with that, the boys let go, and Glory went straight up into the air, screaming in elation. She went five feet up and then back down - and Vash stepped forward to catch her. Knives stood behind Vash for support, which was apparently needed. Glory came down fast and though Vash caught her, without Knives adding more support they'd both be on the ground now. Glory clung to Vash for dear life, gasping and laughing and calming herself down.

Rem, still sitting, had her hand over her heart.

Once Glory finished laughing, she leapt up and gave Vash a huge kiss on the cheek, and then reached behind him, grabbing Knives' collar and jerking him closer to give him the same kiss. Once done she giggled and took off running, going up the slightly sloping hill to sit in front of Rem. "Did ya see, Mommy? Did ya see? Glory went high!"

"Oh, I saw," Rem said. With a look at the boys, she added, "It almost gave me a heart attack, but I saw."

Vash pointed at Knives, who shoved him back and pointed, and soon the boys were shoving and pointing at one another. Glory turned to see what was going on and began laughing again as she saw Vash tackle Knives and begin rolling around on the grass. Both boys laughed as they rolled around and tried to pin the other, and Rem let it go on as Glory laughed for several minutes.

"Alright boys," Rem said, "that's enough."

The twins looked at Rem, Vash on his back, hands locked with Knives. Knives' stomach was on Vash's shoe, Vash's leg straight up in the air, and like that, Knives' feet didn't touch the ground. They both muttered an apology as Vash let Knives off his foot and stood up. Glory quit laughing and looked up at Rem.

"I had to stop them before they hurt each other," Rem explained.

Glory laughed. "Vash invincible!" she claimed, showing her obvious favor for him. With a giggle, she added, "Vash funny, too."

Rem laughed. "Yes, he is," she agreed. "What do you suppose Knives is?" she asked Glory.

Glory wrinkled her nose as she thought. "Knives tough," she said. "Knives strong."

Rem laughed again and leaned forward enough to rub her nose against Glory's. Glory giggled more and hugged her mother. "Knives, Vash miss Glory," Rem whispered in Glory's speech.

"Really?" Glory whispered back, turning wide eyes on her mother.

"Yes."

Glory giggled more and got up quickly, running over to her brothers and circling them randomly. "Vash! Knives! Vash! Vash! Knives! Vash! Knives! Knives! Knives! Vash!" she called as she circled them.

Eventually Knives caught her and lifted her above him, saying, "Glory!" with a grin. He set her down again and Glory reached up with open arms, so he did it again. "Glory!"

"Knives!" Glory laughed.

Once she was on the ground again, she went over to Vash, who tossed her like Knives had done, calling out, "Glory!"

"Vash!" Glory laughed out. But this time, when she was set down again, she grabbed Vash's waist and hugged him.

Vash smiled at her and sat down, and Glory curled up while not letting go of his waist.

Knives went off in search of the praying mantis he'd been poking at earlier.

It really was a cute dream, made cuter by how childish Glory acted, and how Knives and Vash had responded to her young state of mind.

"That was adorable," Glory said aloud, looking for her mother as the dream faded out. "You really dreamed that?"

__

"I wanted you to see it before I left," Rem said with a nod.

"Left?" Vash asked, suddenly aware of reality.

__

"I have to leave soon, now that you're all together."

"So soon?" Knives asked. "I haven't seen you in so long. . ."

Glory smiled sadly. "It is unfair. Knives had been without you the most."

__

"But there's me in all of you," Rem said, gently as ever. She stepped forward and opened her arms, and Vash launched himself into her embrace.

Glory laughed once and grabbed Knives' wrist, bringing him with her as she drew close enough to hug Rem and Vash. Knives hesitated a moment before hugging all of them, though with some difficulty. Rem smiled at them all in turn, noting Knives' reluctantly revealed love for her, Glory's sad yet happy face at the developments, and Vash's tear-stained face as he protested her leaving indefinitely.

__

"My babies," Rem said. _"You've all grown up." _She drew back and addressed Knives first, reaching up to touch his cheek. _"You know you have to be a big brother now, right?"_

"Yes. . .mother," Knives said, having some trouble saying the word.

__

"That means you're going to have to stop being so mean to the humans," Rem went on.

"I'll try my best," Knives said. "I can't make promises yet."

__

"Good. Now, Vash -" Rem turned to him and thought over her words. _"I hate to play favorites, but you're mine," _she said.

Crying or not, Vash managed a smile for his mother. "Well, if it helps any, you're my favorite, too."

Rem laughed. _"Thank you, Vash. You better enjoy the family I've made for you."_

"I will," Vash said, making it a promise.

Turning to Glory, Rem waited a moment and then hugged Glory. _"You've done a wonderful job,"_ she said. _"Thank you for coming through with your promise and taking care of your older brother. Only now you have two to look after."_

Glory laughed and hugged her mother more tightly. "Well, I had a lot of help," she said, thinking back on all the times Rem had given her guidance. "And there's no way I'm _ever_ going to try to take care of twins," she added with a laugh.

__

"I've afraid you've got no choice," Rem argued, but leaned back. She gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead. _"You're my only daughter, Glory. Act a little more like it."_ She tugged at Glory's jeans and then eyed the muscles apparent on Glory's arms and shoulders.

"Hey, I need these," Glory replied, meaning her muscles.

__

"Not anymore," Rem returned. _"You don't need that boomerang. A time of peace is coming over the planet. Enjoy it while it lasts, even help preserve it."_ Stepping back, Rem looked at all three in turn. _"And I mean all of you."_

"Rem - Mom," Vash said, stepping closer. "You. . .Why didn't you ever tell me, about being my - our - mother?"

Rem's eyes grew sad. _"You know why,"_ she said softly.

With a nod two more tears made their way down Vash's face, and Glory blinked, trying to hold back her own tears. "Don't make this so hard," she told her brother. She swallowed and blinked again, the action letting two tears fall.

__

"I have to go now," Rem said, her form fading.

"Wait - Mom -" Vash said, reaching for her. Glory grasped his arm, holding on tightly, as Rem spoke again.

__

"I will speak to you all separately. As soon as I leave, your dreams - your minds - will separate. I must speak to you all privately."

Her form faded completely, and Glory's eyes drifted shut again. She opened her eyes to see a starry landscape, standing on an invisible floor. "Mom?" she asked.

"Glory," Rem said, and Glory spun to see her. "Your message is simple enough. Take Knives, show him the planet like you've seen it. Only, try not to be so cruel and - please, Glory. . .don't kill anyone else."

"Mother. . .But those few people I did kill - they deserved it, and so many more people have lived because of it. . ."

"That's not an excuse, Glory," Rem told her firmly. "Please, my daughter, my baby, don't do it again." Rem's eyes were so sad, so pleading, that Glory couldn't argue.

"Never again," Glory told her, quietly. _Honor before life_, she thought. _I won't do it again. Ever. I promise, Mother._

"Thank you," Rem whispered. She gave Glory a fierce hug, and both of them let loose silent tears. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Mother," Glory whispered back, and Rem faded away again.

Vash

"Mom?" He looked over his shoulder, recognizing the scene of endless blue water beneath him and red petals raining down from the clouds.

"I'm here," Rem told him, and touched his arm. "I have a gift for you, if you want it," she told him.

"What is it?"

"I can bring back your arm," she said. "If you want it. I know mechanics have their advantages."

Vash gave it some serious thought. He nodded. "I'd prefer to keep it the way it is. It's handy - no pun intended," he added with a laugh.

Rem laughed, too. "I need you to do something now. Can you do what I ask?"

"Of course. Always."

"Don't force your views on your brother or sister," Rem told him. "I've asked Glory to teach Knives. Now all you have to do is be happy with your wife," she added, smiling.

"But I didn't -" Vash began, and cut himself off. _Meryl? I'm going to marry Meryl?_ The thought made him grin, and he hugged Rem. "I'm going to marry Meryl!" he exclaimed.

"Yes, Vash," Rem agreed. "I'm sorry that I have to go, but there's no help for it. Goodbye, Vash. I won't be gone forever."

Holding on more tightly, Vash nodded. "Goodbye, Mother. I'll miss you."

"So will I," Rem whispered, and then she was gone, and Vash crumbled, letting his tears fall unheeded.

Knives

"Knives," Rem called, and he turned to see her.

"This is odd," Knives said, gesturing the background of his dream. They were on a SEEDs ship, in the only room that was weightless. "Why am I here?"

"You liked it here," Rem said. "You miss it."

Knives shook his head, but Rem was going on.

"I need you to promise me something, Knives."

"What?"

"To listen to Glory," Rem said, distinctly. "If you need to learn how to treat humans, Glory is the best teacher. And I need you to promise me that you won't try to kill them anymore."

"I can't make that promise," Knives answered honestly. "What would happen if they all turned feral and attacked us? I can't take that risk."

"Trust me, Knives," Rem said, softly. "Promise me."

Knives just shook his head again.

Rem floated closer. "Promise me, even if it is a lie. Don't make me leave with us in opposing views."

Lips trembling, Knives nodded finally. "Alright, I promise, Mother."

Rem hugged Knives tightly to her. "Thank you, Knives. That means a lot to me."

Knives smiled and tightened his arms. "I remember you being a lot bigger," he said.

Rem laughed once, softly. "You were a lot smaller then. Goodbye, Knives. Be good." She kissed his cheek.

"I'll try," Knives replied, still smiling. Without further warning, Rem was gone, leaving him alone in his dream.

Wow. And so ends the longest chapter I've written. You guys had better grovel at my feet for writing so many chapters. That's right; I had this one finished the same day/night as the previous update. Just had it on hold for the next reasonable update, I.e., THIS one. Sheesh, I made a lot of chapters successively. Four, to be exact.

AND what I forgot to say before: I made this cute picture of Glory, Knives and Vash. Knives is annoyed in the picture, which makes sense, since Glory is practically hanging off him. Vash is on Knives' opposite and grinning like Glory. And flashing his "Love and Peace" sign. Both Vash and Knives are wearing blue jeans and button-up shirt, and brown boots. I made three versions of the picture, since I was playing around with backgrounds. The third looks best, with a sunset background that I had to fiddle with to make it look like Gunsmoke.

Until next time! And I'll be making pictures of li'l Glory, Vash and Knives for ya! Hell, I probably already have them finished by the time you read this.

DL


	11. Crsis

****

The Usual Disclaimer: I do not own Trigun, Meryl, Milly, Wolfwood, Rem, Knives, or Vash, as much as I wish I owned one particular character. . . .Oh, well. I can dream, can't I?

****

Glory

Chapter Eleven: Crisis

Glory was having a hard time biting back her grin.

Currently Knives was explaining the number of reasons why she should not only stay with them, but in the twin's room, and furthermore, on the bed with them. One of the reasons was because he wanted to be there to protect her should anything happen, and another that siblings should always be together. Possibly the funniest one, though, was that he claimed Vash was the one who wanted her to sleep with them and he was asking her for him.

Eventually Glory held up her hands to stop him and allowed herself a few laughs. "Knives," she giggled, "I was just waiting for someone to ask." She stood up from her laid-out position on the couch and looped an arm around his waist, trying to relieve as much pain as possible for the six-foot trip to get from the couch, round the corner, down the hall, and into the boy's room. She sat him down on the bed.

Another week of healing and Knives still hissed in pain whenever one of his limbs bent, mainly being his knees. Glory waited until he laid back and then got in herself, being sure to climb over Vash - although she wasn't sure why she wanted to.

If he'd been asleep before, he certainly wasn't now. Vash gave her an annoyed glance before settling down again, clutching his pillow to his cheek. He muttered something about inconsiderate baby sisters, but Glory just rolled her eyes and made sure she snuggled between the two.

Over the past few weeks here, Meryl had pointedly refused to let her stay unless she wore the 'proper' clothing to bed. In the end Glory had gone out and bought a set of pajamas that were obviously meant for men, being a simple gray but amazingly soft. A string tied the waist together of the pants, and the shirt was button-up. It was annoying to have to take off her boots every night, just to put them back on in the morning, but she did so without complaint. After a while she made a habit of taking off her chain, too, for more comfort now that she could have it.

Smiling devilishly, she rolled over onto her stomach and laid there a moment before rolling onto her back again. She turned to face Knives and then Vash, back onto her stomach, and back to Vash again. She kicked his calf and pushed back into Knives before rolling onto her stomach, and heard Vash trying to hide his laughter while Knives made angry noises.

She laughed herself, until Knives clamped a hand down over her mouth.

"Just go to sleep," he said.

__

After I do **this**! she thought, and then licked his palm. Knives made what was possibly the most annoying sound she'd heard and jerked his hand back, wiping it on the blankets before promptly turning his back to her. Glory laughed again. _All right, I know, I'll go to sleep. Happy now?_

Elated, Knives though back, dryly.

Vash was still snickering.

It was sometime later when dreams welcomed her. She'd never felt so comforted before, and if she'd have known what it took to feel this content and safe, she would have introduced herself to her brothers a long time ago.

Sleep was kind. Glory doubted she moved all night.

The next morning was a bit more hectic. Glory woke up only when Vash started moving, and felt for her position. She was splayed out over her brothers, arms flung to the side and her left leg was across Vash's. Vash himself was still facing away from Glory as he'd been last night, but now Knives was facing her, one arm laying limply across her stomach, hand gripping the blanket loosely at Vash's back.

Protective as the eldest could be while asleep.

Vash moaned something and rolled further away from her, and right off the bed. He made a yelp at the split second of time when you can feel nothing above or below you, and then he was facedown on the floor. Glory sat up to see him, chuckling all the while, and the action woke up Knives.

The first thing he saw behind Glory's back was a missing head. "Vash?" he said, eyebrows drawing together.

"He's on the floor," Glory answered for her embarrassed sibling.

There was a light knock at the door, and all three of them knew who it was by feel alone, before said person even spoke.

"Everything alright in there?" Wolfwood's voice asked through the door.

"We're all fine," Glory called, getting up and stepping over Vash to crack the door. "It's just a little difficult for the three of us giants to sleep on the same bed. Dangerous, even," she laughed.

Wolfwood smiled at her and shook his head. "Well, breakfast is out. You guys slept in today."

Glory shrugged. "There's a first time for everything," she quoted.

Nick's face softened as he glanced down the hall, towards the adjoining kitchen and living room. "And apparently, some second tries, as well." He looked at her again with a heartfelt appreciative glance and then left, closing the door.

Glory turned her back against the door, leaned, and sighed. She offered her brothers a smile as Knives began getting up and Vash sat up, rubbing his head. "No wonder Milly fell for him," she commented. "That look was positively seductive."

"He gave you a seductive look?" both brothers asked. Vash sounded curious, while Knives more as though he was going to tear Wolfwood apart, wounds or no wounds, if he ever tried anything.

"He gave me a nice, appreciative glance before he walked away," Glory clarified, "and it was somewhat seductive."

Knives looked away with a scowl but didn't say anything further. Meanwhile Vash got up and stretched, long limbs taut, and then sighed. Glory walked past them both until she reached the dresser and pulled her clothes off the top where she always left them.

It was amazing how comfortable they'd all gotten with one another. It didn't matter who was doing what; everything was acceptable. They changed in front of one another without breaking a conversation, and Glory and Vash went so far as to help Knives whenever he couldn't reach his boots or stretch enough to pull up his pants or put on his shirt.

Every day was like this. Glory would change in the boy's room, as they would, and they would talk. Be it by mouth or mind, sometimes both, they would speak. This morning's conversation consisted of how many donuts Meryl bought - as was always the first topic up for discussion - followed by the day's events. Glory was scheduled for an interview for a job today, one that involved a lot of manual labor - the same digging job Milly worked at. This launched another discussion about when Milly would have to stop working, and decided that four month's pregnant was time for her to quit, if not the month before.

Breakfast went off smoothly as it did every morning, and one could almost swear that the scene was unreal, that at any minute a monster would come in to attack, or someone would wake up, or someone would simply fall over from poison or some thing. The same cheerful unreal blanketed every morning since Nicholas D. Wolfwood returned, the added weight of dead-and-returned a strangeness no one could possibly deal with completely.

Once done with that, Glory grabbed her hair tie and put it back into its ponytail, glancing over at the corner her boomerang occupied before leaving without it. She whistled a song she remembered as "It's My Life" by some female singer of earth and her band, known as No Doubt. The interview went off without a bump, and soon Glory shook the manager's hand on the contract, agreeing by his terms of hours and allotted cash per hour. Her official first day was scheduled for tomorrow, and she left as Milly was showing up. Now five weeks pregnant, she didn't quite show, but her morning sickness was over and sensitivity to smell.

__

Someone's following me.

Glory knew it now. She slowed her steps almost unnoticeably, hands in pockets, and glanced at a store sign. Through the corner of her eye she saw a tall, lanky man following with his head down, his hair a messy crop of black strings and wearing an old, battered trench coat. His arms were crossed over his chest, but Glory could see. The silver glints were unmistakable.

She turned a corner to lead away from her usual trek back home, and entered a store before he'd turned the corner. She kept herself out of sight, back pressed against the wall next to the door, and shut her eyes to listen carefully. He muttered curses, paused, and then yelled.

__

Footsteps.

Her eyes shot open and she dove outside just before a barrage of gunshots were directed at her, and knocked down the man that had been following her. Quickly, she darted across the street and down an alley, just missing several more shots.

__

Following me again. . .What does he want?!

Glory exited the alley just to duck a large dagger thrown at her, and began running for the next alley - but stopped dead. In front of her, gun to head, was Laura, Wesley's wife. And she was holding their recently-born son, a mere three weeks. Her stomach churned in fear and apprehension, and she gasped when she saw the mound that was Wesley near his wife's feet.

His twin girls were off to the side, tied up and crying, sitting on the ground and with guns pointed at them as well.

Laughter sounded from behind her, but Glory didn't turn. Her eyes narrowed in hate and she hissed. "What's going on? What do you want from me?"

The man from earlier circled her. She eyed the rooftops carefully and subtly, but he caught it and laughed more. "You're completely surrounded. These men are jittery, so be careful. If one shoots, they'll all shoot, and you'll be among the dead - along with this pretty lady," he gestured Laura, "and those two lovely girls," he gestured the twins next.

He cackled and took a step back, and began answering her questions. "You're an anomaly," he sneered at her. "A giant of a woman who can't possibly be anything less that a monstrosity. These people associated with you. . .now they're infected as well. You're poisoning us all! Just like those damn Plants!"

"Watch it!" Glory snapped at him, and heard someone on the roof jerk in surprise. "You son of a fu -"

"Hold your tongue!" he snapped in return. "A freak of nature! I can smell it - it's sickening! My stomach hardly stays still, even thinking about you! Make one move and you're dead, _freak_."

__

He's serious, she thought. _He's going to kill me and then them. Because I spoke to them. I have to. . .stop. . ._ She began speaking. "And who are you?" she asked.

Jerking open his trench coat, he showed the multitude of guns that lay within the folds. "I am Judgment! I am your executioner, and I will damn you to Hell!" He raised his arm, drawing a gun in the process, and Glory's breath caught.

__

Knives, Vash! she called mentally, taking a terrified step back. _Help me! I need you! Va -_

Her mental thoughts stopped, freezing, when the man's hand begin to fall. All around her, guns cocked and the girls screamed. Laura was crying, holding tightly to her son and still-swollen womb. Glory found herself screaming, crying, scared and angry and completely at a loss. She had to do _something_, but her mind was blank and her legs wouldn't work.

**__**

Vaaaash!!!! her mind called out, one last thought before her body jerked to movement and she harshly ran into that man, knocking him back so hard he nearly flew into the building behind.

Guns were firing, and footsteps were heading her way from every direction. She kicked at the man holding Laura and Laura crumpled to her knees, and then a burst of her power sent the men holding guns to the twin's heads flying. A bullet hit Glory's left side and another skinned her neck, and Glory turned to face them. The bullets continued to hit her - left shoulder, right thigh, right side, right arm, left wrist, left foot - a barrage of tiny bits of metal that she couldn't fight.

And then, from behind her, someone jerked her down, and she saw a blue blur pass beside her. One man knocked down, one knocked out, another two went down, the people on the roof began collapsing from unseen power - blonde hair. Vash.

Everything happened so fast, guns firing and people groaning, metal piercing her skin and bodies falling - she hardly kept up. In the center of the melee stood Vash, now aiming his gun arm - which has shredded his sleeve - and he fired several shots in succession, knocking down man after man in a howl of endless pain.

And then it was all over, Glory was shaking, and she found herself propped up and holding her right side, blood seeping through her fingers as she tried to hold the wound shut. Eyes blurred, she focused on seeing, and glanced over her shoulder. Knives kneeled behind her, shocked face, holding her and looking over her wounds.

Vash was hurrying towards her, gun returning to his arm as he moved. He skidded on his knees to stop in front of her and looked anxiously at the bullet holes and split skin where the bullets had simply grazed her. Tilting her head back she could see Wolfwood on the roof, hands shaking as he held a gun and stared down at her.

She looked down again, at Vash's hands moving her own away and inspecting closer. She could hear the three men talking quickly to one another but couldn't hear them at all. Not until Vash looked up again, directly at her eyes. "It's still inside," he said, somewhat gravely.

Glory looked down at her side again. No, this one didn't go through. Naturally, then, it would be still inside. . .All you have to do now is take it out. That simple. It's not a problem at all.

Right?

Looking at Vash's face, then Knives and lastly Wolfwood's, she wasn't so sure. "What's wrong? It's not so bad," she said.

But by the look on Vash's face as he shared a look with Knives, it wasn't the wound on her side he was worried about. His eyes dropped again, to her chest. Glory looked down.

Oh.

Well, that explains a lot. . .

Hospital

Words filtered in and out, and Glory picked up a few statements. _"The bullet in her chest. . .Surgery successful, the bullet's out. . .Remove the rest of the bullets. . .Who attacked her? . .Sheriff's going to arrest. . .Glory? . . Okay now? . . ._

"Is she going to make it?"

It hurt to move. It hurt to breath. Her heart hurt by just beating. She didn't want to open her eyes or lift her hand to shade the light, but she was doing both. The light hurt, too. She glanced right and saw Vash, exhausted and slumped over in a chair, hands gripping a necklace of some sort. . .her locket. . .

Looking left, she saw Knives in much the same position, but he was awake. Hands clenched together, eyes wide and shaking with labored breath, he looked much like he was the injured one.

But he was the awake one. "Knives?" she asked, wondering at her own dry, cracked voice.

He jumped slightly and turned to her sharply. "Glory," he said, as though he was afraid to hope. "You're awake. . .I. . .we. . ."

"Quiet," she whispered. "Vash's still asleep. What happened?"

He looked shocked that she'd even ask. "You got shot at, Glory. Do you remember?"

Glory thought it over. Wesley, a job, Laura. . .Judgment. . . "A little," she confessed. "But not much. Why are you so worried?"

He bit his lip before going on. "We. . .We tried to do that - that thing, that healing thing you taught us. . .but there was a cr-crowd and we. . Couldn't do the. . .they would've. . .So-so a doctor came, and he. . .he had us bring you here and you. . .Glory, you. . ."

"Relax and stop stuttering," Glory said, working at sitting up for a moment before deeming it impossible. "I'm fine, see? Healthy as an ox."

Knives looked more angry at her statement than anything. "Glory, you had thirty two bullet wounds! Twenty six didn't go through! You lost a lot of blood!"

Vash was stirring. "I lost blood?" Glory asked. "How much?"

"Too much," Knives replied, calmer this time. Almost numb, even. "About half."

"I don't feel like it." Dear god, was that actually her own voice? So raspy? So hoarse? So dry and aching?

"We had to give you blood," Knives explained. "Vash and I." He lifted his arm to show a bandage over what was obviously a syringe's wound. "They wanted us to leave you." This last was said with contempt, anger that they wanted him to leave his sister. That they wanted Vash and himself to just _leave_ her.

"Where am I now?" she asked, sparing a glance at Vash, who was just starting to blink, dark circles apparent underneath.

"A human hospital," Knives informed her. "We wanted to take you home, but we agreed with the humans that it would be too dangerous."

"Glory!" Vash's voice broke in. "You're awake!" He got up and stumbled over, nearly tripping in his haste to give her a once-over.

Heedless, Glory continues to interrogate Knives. "How did I lose so much blood in such a short time?"

"Thirty two wounds, Glory," Knives went on. "Six did go through, and those bled the most. Among all of them, though, you had countless scrapes and splits where they nearly got you." Eyes narrowed, he went on. "They say you shouldn't have made it. And they're right. Anybody else would've died."

Glory smiled at him, and turned the smile on Vash as he drew up his chair closer and sat down. "I can't die yet. I've promised to watch you two. Dying would have broken the promise."

They both looked only a little consoled by that.

"Would you like to see everyone?" Vash asked.

"Not yet," Glory returned. She shut her eyes. "Can I go back to sleep for a while?" _Well, now I know why everything hurts._

"Of course," both brothers said in one. With a sigh Glory was out again, giving in willingly to the bliss of dreams, where pain doesn't exist.

Ouchies. Poor Glory, huh? And what the hell was with that damn Judgment guy, anyway? What a lunatic. Psycho.

Alas, at the end of this chapter, I have yet to draw another picture for you. I might have one when this gets put up, though. So pay attention! Geez, I got thrown off when I forgot to bring 8 when I updated 7. 7, 8, 9 and 10 were all done at the same time. This one Is now finished on the sixth of May. Yep, that's right. I wonder what day it is now, now that you're reading this. . .Hmm.

DL


	12. Recovery

****

The Usual Disclaimer: I do not own Trigun, Meryl, Milly, Wolfwood, Rem, Knives, or Vash, as much as I wish I owned one particular character. . . .Oh, well. I can dream, can't I?

****

Glory

Chapter Twelve: To Recover

Things got more and more calm as the days, and soon weeks, passed. During the first few days of her recovery, there was always somebody nearby, to heed her every call. Usually it was Knives, being the only one who didn't work or have things to do. His own pain was completely forgotten; Glory was hurt and he was going to take care of her until she fine again. . .and even then, he'd still take care of her. Vash stopped by every chance he got, and his sleep was starting to suffer for it. He took up a job some time ago, and he needed to be up and focused for it. However, the boss accepted his work - no matter how badly done it was - because of Glory being in such bad shape.

She became a kind of godly story as more time passed. At six feele ten, she was extremely tall, strong, and apparently, immortal. Thirty two gunshot wounds - six that went through - soon became thirty six and two that went through, and then forty two with eight that went through. . . Soon it became sixty, and none of them went through. The doctors had to pull them all out, and she had to have blood transplanted into her along with a kidney, a liver, half a heart and a lung.

The rumors kept going, spiraling out of control. People came to see her, starting with Wesley's family with thanks for saving them, and with cards, balloons and presents.

Her family was given money, too. Vash, Meryl, Knives, Milly and Nicholas all got helpful presents and money to help make end's meet. And end's meet alone was postponed, to give Glory - the huge woman that she was - the time necessary to recover enough to take care of herself. They all were paid a little extra, just for the effort it took for them to focus on the job, and soon Vash was given two week's leave with pay so he could take care of her.

When the news reached Bernadelli, they sent news that nothing would be cut from either girl's paychecks, and even, for their hazardous life living with Vash, they were given hazard pay. They even went so far as to request news of when Glory was back on her feet, and then they begin paying Vash to keep out of trouble as best he could - it was their intention since Meryl sent news that the threat of Vash the Stampede was over - more or less.

It was a sympathy story.

Glory hated such stories, and refused all rumors. Knives agreed heartily with her, and turned away every 'groupie' that came by to see her, and even threw down the cult that was forming in her honor. While Knives would have liked to have the humans see themselves as the lower beings they were, this was nowhere near how he wanted it to happen. A rumor about being invincible because Glory got so many wounds - no. He wanted them to finally realize who they were looking at when they looked at himself, Vash and Glory. Superior beings with unfathomable powers.

After two weeks neither brother could deal with her being away from home any longer, or the strange devoted people who wanted to touch Glory in hopes of absorbing her immortality. They took her home, giving up their own bed in the process. It continued to where they warned everyone else to stay out of the room, for a number of reasons.

The main one was that Glory was naked save for her bandages and blanket. Her brothers changed her bandages often and double-checked her wounds nearly every day, making sure everything was going along as it should. Meanwhile she wasn't given food - and it was a good thing, too, that Plants didn't have to eat. It stretched out to where they also didn't have to go to the bathroom every day - or at all.

The second reason was because they washed Glory in that bed, careful of moving her. As such they changed the sheets every time they changed her bandages, and tried to keep her from hurting. Knives especially, being so sensitive to pain. While the fear of her dying was still thick in the air, Knives feared most that she would die writhing in pain.

The weeks that followed seemed just as bad. Milly was showing at her ninth week, Wolfwood was fully functional, Knives was more than healed and no longer in any sort of pain, Vash was starting to catch up on his missing sleep, and Meryl fussed over every detail.

Every Saturday Vash and Knives would help Glory out of bed, lead her to the bathroom, and let her soak in a warm bath until she told them it was enough. Every now and again she spasmed in pain, but it was getting less frequent. The last strong one was while she was in the bath, both brothers there and - as carefully as possible - washing her. Vash was doing most of the washing, sitting on the lip of the tub, while Knives did his best to keep her attention so if anything hurt, she likely wouldn't feel it.

She coughed. A series of aches came alive at the movement and then she was hissing in pain, one hand grabbing Knives' arm tightly as her breath struggled to get under control.

It was, in fact, the worst spasm she'd had. Or that she could remember. She knew she screamed in her sleep at times, when something would jerk and all the wounds would throb and she would shake, the pain becoming worse and worse until her brothers were there and soothing the pain.

Thirty two. Thirty two wounds. Twenty six bullets inside of her body all at once, each one having to be dug out. Seven stitches per wound - two hundred, twenty four stitches all together. By the end of the forth week, fifty three of them had popped and had to be replaced.

It was worse to know that Vash was crying. At night, sometimes when she woke, she could hear him. Usually Knives would know first and go to comfort him, but always, Knives would end up crying along with him. And worse still, it wasn't just because she was hurt and screamed at night. It wasn't just because Wesley's family was also threatened and nearly killed. Even more so, it wasn't just because they were so late.

It was because of what Judgment had said to her. About being poison, infecting the humans. That she was a monstrosity, an anomaly, a _freak of nature_.

And because they all promised Rem they wouldn't kill. That alone hampered them, for Glory was certain that if they didn't promise her such a thing, they would have hunted down every man and woman responsible and slaughtered them, mercilessly.

The most frightening part is that Glory would have enjoyed watching them die. She would have smiled and laughed as their blood covered the ground and soaked into the earth, and laugh harder at Knives' telekinetic tortures. She would have cheered him on, watching the men's bones snap one at a time, until they finally choked to death on their own blood.

Preparations were being made by the sixth week for them to leave and not come back. Everyone supported the idea and helped, even Glory, in her little ways. She could sit up by herself and wince all the way to the adjoining bathroom, roll over and speak without rasping. Coughing, though it still hurt, didn't send her into spasms. She got one or two of the spasms a day, much less frequent than how it had started. She began eating again, but it was a hindrance as much as a healthy way of healing.

She usually needed help just getting to the bathroom, and then sitting down on the toilet. Reaching in front of her to grab the toilet paper was just as much of a stretch, as was getting up again she could make it back to the bed. Since Vash was back at work, and working harder and doing overtime for extra pay, Knives had to be her brace and at times he winced with her when something clenched.

While it was such a horrible experience for her, Glory had to love the way their bonds tightened so much while she recovered. Knives especially was becoming more and more. . .well. . .affectionate and clingy. He tried harder than anyone to make sure she was okay and had everything she needed, and that lifted a lot of obvious pressure off of Vash.

Meryl comforted him a lot. She seemed unsure of what to do, more than anybody else, and as such, she did everything. She kept the house looking spotless, made sure everyone else had dinner on the table and no worries about work or home, or Glory.

There was a type of anger in her eyes for Glory. Glory prodded her mind on several occasions and met with block after block, Meryl hiding her feelings inside of her as she struggled on to be the strong one. But when Glory did get a peek, she wasn't sure if she was more confused or shocked.

Meryl hated her, for the simple reason that she was Vash's sister. It seemed to her as though Vash did two main things: take care of Glory and then cry. Meryl couldn't help Glory, and comforting Vash usually led in circles. He babbled a lot, spewing out riddles on he knew the answer to. The word "Mom" came up a lot in his mumblings. And what was worse for her, Meryl had never been in such a situation before. She didn't know how to make a man feel better when his 'baby sister' was mortally wounded and in constant need of care. She didn't know what to do to make Glory's recovery a little easier, and she hated the fact that Glory had shown up like she did and inadvertently caused this pain for him.

Milly was better. With Nicholas always making sure Milly had what she needed and calming her when things got out of hand, she was doing pretty well. The baby was at a healthy eleven weeks, showing just enough and Nicholas adored the mound on Milly's stomach. Glory heard them often, him talking to the unborn child and making all sorts of cooing sounds, and Milly responding with giggles and gleeful cries as the child moved.

Four weeks later

For the first time, Glory awoke with a contented groan, in no pain. She sighed and took a deep breath -

And instantly regretted the idea. Her breath hissed out again and she lifted a still horribly wounded right arm to touch her chest, brushing over her most life-threatening of her wounds. It twinged in response and she winced reflexively, but this time, searing pain didn't come with it. She let her breath out carefully and sat up as Knives entered the room again.

She offered him a smile as he neared and sat down beside her. A single, crucial eye looked her over as he did every morning, and then he put an arm around her waist.

"This is quite a turn of events, is it not?" he asked, standing up and bringing her up with him.

"What do you mean by that?" Glory asked, letting him lead her towards the door.

"Before this happened, you were helping me walk everywhere," he explained, and paused to look at her. "I had just four wounds, and while you have thirty two, I swear at time that you are taking it much better than I am."

Glory shrugged and then regretted _that_ bright idea as well. It took her a minute to catch her breath after that one, but once she did, she grinned at him. "That's me all over. Women, as the bearer of children, naturally have a much higher tolerance of pain." Kicking her brother back into drive, she kept talking. "I'm thinking of having you be present when Milly gives birth, you know. You'd rethink how sensitive them humans are."

Knives smirked. "Maybe in the next lifetime."

"I can wait that long to show you," Glory replied with that grin remaining.

Knives caught her eye and had to laugh once before settling her into a chair. "Right. I remember; you're my teacher."

"At least until you get an A," Glory said back, evenly.

Knives chuckled again, and the high spirits remained as Meryl placed their plates in front of them and Vash came out to eat as well, sitting on Glory's right. He gave her an amazingly gentle hug and kissed her cheek before turning to his food and going on with the usual breakfast's compliments to Meryl.

Another Three Weeks

Glory waved off her family, after about three hour's worth of convincing them that she'll be fine by herself for a few hours while they get everything underway for their trip out of here. She stepped back inside after a moment and shut the door, followed instantly by locking the door. She stared at the knob a moment, and then her hand began shaking badly. She looked sharply at her hand, but it took several minutes before she got it under control again.

What in the world was she thinking?! She could be alone for the next four or five hours! There was plenty for her to do. . .

That's how it started. Those simple thoughts that pushed her into drive and made her do the first thing she thought of. It soon escaladed heavily, becoming a type of game to her - How Long Can I Stay Occupied! However silly the name sounded, it wasn't funny at all. She hated to admit it, so she didn't, but she was actually paranoid. Every sound was another gunslinger, every odd shadow a gun about to fire at her. . .And Vash and Knives weren't her to help her. . .

It nearly drove her nuts, seeing all those shapes and hearing all those sounds. So she did everything she could, inspected everything to make sure it wasn't a possible threat.

But it didn't stop there, with looking at things. She was hungry and made herself something to eat. And then she was tired, so she laid down. Then she became restless so she wandered aimlessly.

When everyone came back, it was like walking into someone else's house.

The furniture was rearranged, put in neater places and placed so strategically that it saved the most space and was the most out of the way. The scent of cooked food hit their noses and they went to inspect the kitchen, finding that nearly everything was covered in food, and great ones at that. Like they were expecting to host a party. Looking in their rooms proved that she's gotten into their rooms and cleaned and rearranged everything there, as well. But there was a large problem.

Glory wasn't there. Not in the living room, the kitchen, her room or bathroom, or the other two rooms or storage room. Staring at the hall bath, they all regrouped and wondered who should go in, and wondering more so what they would find. Knives began quoting her thoughts, as though it might help.

"Not scared, not really. Annoying thing. Bully. What was that? Stupid prickle. Sew. Do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do. . .Doe, a deer. Nighttime sunshine. . ." He cut off there and looked confused. "I think she's trying to avoid a certain thought," he told them. "And I think I know what it is."

Vash nodded. "It's gotta be. I'll go see her. You guys just. . ."

"Wait here until you make her sane again?" Wolfwood suggested.

Vash glanced at him. "Yeah." With a strengthening breath, he opened the door.

Inside, Glory was sitting in the tub, fully dressed, with water a few inches up. She even had her boots on. She had a couch pillow in her hands, poking at fraying threads. She looked up when the door opened and smiled. It was a horrible smile to look at, though - there was not just pain behind that smile, but fear, and with amazingly cheery eyes. "Hi, guys," she said. She held up the pillow. "It frays. I have to fix it. Do you mind?" She looked down again and began pricking at a certain thread.

Vash walked in and shut the door. He knelt in front of the tub and folded his arms on the lip. "Glory?" he asked.

She looked up with that smile again. "Did you eat anything? I would've made donuts for you but I don't know how. How is the air out?" She looked down hastily again.

Vash bit his lip before speaking. "Are you alright?"

"Peachy!" Glory claimed, her eyes becoming crescents as she grinned at him again. "Whatever could be wrong?! I'm great! The pain's nearly gone -" she giggled - "and the house is fine and I can walk again! You've been sleeping and Milly's been eating right and Knives' isn't hurt anymore!" She giggled more again, and then her face fell.

Vash swallowed and reached out to her. She didn't respond. "Glory?" he prodded. "Do you want to talk?"

"Another one bites the dust," she sang, suddenly. "Another one bites the dust. And another one gone, and another one gone, another one bites the dust!" Switching songs, she went on. "It's funny how I find myself, in love with you. If I could buy my reasoning, I'd pay to lose. Oh, it's my life!" She swung her gaze on Vash. "Don't you forget! Caught in the crowd! It never ends!" Eyes narrowing, she quit singing and glared at the tile in front of her. "It'll never fucking end."

She'd begun shaking.

Not sure what to do at this turn, Vash got up and left her to herself until he could figure out something to do. He exited the bathroom to find that everyone had had their ears against the door, and he caught Meryl when she fell forward. Stepping forward and shutting the door, he looked pointedly at Knives. "We've got a problem."

It was all he needed to say.

She snapped! I hope this wasn't too tense of a chapter. For those of you who need a little push, at this point Milly is eighteen weeks pregnant - almost five months. And Glory has had her injuries since Milly's fifth week, making this her thirteenth week of physical recovery. Case in point? Not really. Thirteen is a somewhat bad omen for those of us silly humans who are superstitious, though.

Until next time! Geez, two more successively. . . .I'm being too nice. . .

DL


	13. Moving

****

The Usual Disclaimer: I do not own Trigun, Meryl, Milly, Wolfwood, Rem, Knives, or Vash, as much as I wish I owned one particular character. . . .Oh, well. I can dream, can't I?

****

Glory

Chapter Thirteen: Moving

Once everything they needed were aboard the sand steamer, everyone settled. It was hard to keep Glory from singing and then staring uncomprehendingly at the railing - or anything else, for that matter. The first thing they did was board a bus taking them a larger city, and then bought tickets for the next sand steamer, which meant they would have to wait six days.

Glory was mostly okay now. Although all of her wounds were now simply scars, they were still sore, and her mind was in desperate need of repair. The time she spent alone in their previous home had snapped her. The worst part was when she slept, because then, and only then, did she cry. In that way, they all knew when she fell asleep. The instant those eyes would shut, she would begin to cry, and wouldn't stop until she woke a few hours later.

Which was another thing. She never slept for more than four hours. What was more, she always slept rigidly, unable to rest in whatever it was she was dreaming about. Several times Knives and Vash had tried to enter her dreams, to see what scared her so much and try to fight it off. The problem was how strong of a barrier was put up around her mind. To make things worse, the barrier did more than block them out. If they tried to go forward anyway, or break it down, they would get a series of shocks that would affect their bodies as well as minds. And often, they would get a multitude of mental images, passing much too fast to grasp.

But still, one stood out above all the others. An image of Rem as she told them she wouldn't be coming back again.

The twins got enough out of her to know that she was the most broken because she desperately needed Rem's words and advice, and they couldn't reach her anymore.

Once they'd boarded the sand steamer, Glory seemed to get agitated, but didn't resist being drawn to her and her brothers' room. She laid down once there, surprisingly numb for all her previous insanity and wild outbursts of songs and pointless phrases. She even gave a sigh and began staring up at the ceiling, emotions passing through her eyes as her mind drifted from subject to subject and tried to make sense of it all.

Vash and Knives both watched her carefully for a moment before they separated, Knives sitting by Glory and Vash leaving again to double-check on everyone. By the time he got back, Knives had coaxed Glory into a conversation, meanwhile trying to mend what he could of her mind.

"So the suns will eventually collide because of their gravity drawing them together?" Knives repeated as Vash entered. Giving a very certain look, Vash nodded and wisely stayed out of their conversation.

"Naturally," Glory was saying. "Of course, it's still _eventually_. Most likely one will evolve into a white dwarf first. Then they'll just be pulling at one another, and the closer they get, the stronger the pull will be."

"And when they collide?" Knives asked.

"Well, then, it'll boom," Glory said and tilted her head left to see her brother. "A huge explosion. The planets circling will all be pushed away at the resulting blast and thrown off into space. Everything on the planets will freeze and die, and the atmospheres will probably be incinerated by the heat released at such a explosion of heat and fire. Likely, the closest planets will become ash as well."

"And what of the moons?"

"They'll go the farthest, being the lightest and easiest to get moving. Eventually all the planets and moons will create a chain reaction that will likely demolish everything they will come across and create asteroids that will rain down upon other planets and stars and create total and complete anarchy for the beings that inhabit those particular planets."

"That's quite a sentence," Vash added.

Knives shot him a look and turned back to Glory. "All because the suns have such gravity and are drawing closer to each other every day?"

Glory nodded and sighed as she sat up. "Every action has an equal reaction," she went on. "Sex becomes children, gas becomes stars, fire becomes ash, water becomes clouds. It's inevitable."

"That's more of a reaction than action, however," Knives replied, hoping to keep her going on this. He knew this wasn't true, but it was the first thing that came to mind, and it had the desired effect.

"But it is," Glory argued. "The explosion sends the planets spinning away. That's the first action and reaction. Planets colliding and raining down asteroids is a second and completely independent action and reaction. The third is the asteroids smashing into the other planets and the resulting anarchy of the beings. There's a million more within those, if you wish to keep this up," she offered. There was a strength in her eyes that dared Knives to continue.

Knives was nearly smiling. This conversation was causing her to return to herself, as she was doing more and more since they came to the city that they were now leaving. Further distance from the town they were at before and she should likely get even better. But it was still necessary to keep up these conversations, to remind her of who she was and not who was left behind.

He lifted his hands defensively. "I believe you can trump anything I say. Perhaps, though, you'd like to educate Vash on this subject?" he asked, looking at said person.

Vash copied the raised-hands pose. "I'd prefer not to get myself into this mess."

"What mess?" Glory asked, and then promptly laid down and turned her back to her brothers, staring blankly at the wall in front of her. "Where are we going?"

"December for a while," Vash informed her. "Milly and Meryl work there; did you know that?"

"I know everything you don't," she said, but it was fairly obvious she wasn't talking to Vash or Knives. "I wanna ride on a merry-go-round. But they don't exist anymore. What do you care?" All this was muttered annoyedly, even angrily. One could swear she not only heard voices and communed with them, but repeated what they were saying.

As they often did recently, the twins shared a worried look. Eventually Vash left for a shower as he'd intended in the first place, and Knives laid next to Glory, hoping that close quarters would help a bit. It usually did, but sometimes it just made things worse. It seemed it was one of those days when it helped, for Glory rolled slightly towards him, smile in place.

"Do you feel them?" she asked, although it was anyone's guess if she expected an answer.

"Who?" Knives asked.

"The souls. They float around in here. I can't hear them or see them, but I can feel them." She looked at him. "A lot of them don't like you."

Knives gave a shrug. "I tried to kill them all; their dislike is justified." He stared absently at the ceiling. "And do they communicate with you?"

"They try," Glory responded and looked up at the ceiling herself, small smile still showing. "I think one's trying to give us a warning of some sort. But another one's trying to shut it up. And another just wants attention." She sighed, eyes shutting and smile leaving. "They all want attention."

Knives looked sharply over at Glory, recognizing this mood. In five seconds she would turn away from him. . .

Glory rolled away again, facing the wall.

And then she'd start muttering. . .

"Stupid souls," she murmured, annoyed. "Blasted -"

And not too long and she'd be asleep.

She sighed and shut her eyes, still murmuring random bits of information and listing off her pet peeves.

And then she'd begin crying again. It always tore at him, mainly for the fact that he couldn't help her in this state. She had to find her own mind and take care of its problems; face her own fears and all that. Vash had already tried several times, but he had Meryl help him when he began teetering the edge of insanity himself. Truthfully, what he went through - his pain and grief - it was nothing compared to what Glory was going through.

And Knives himself had caused Vash's pain and trip through insanity. Indirectly, but it was his order. Although in hindsight it was a horrible move and he regretted it, he never thought about how to fix such a situation. And now he couldn't help Glory much other than to talk to her and try to comfort her when she slept. She'd given up eating except when she was ordered to; she really didn't do much of anything except when ordered.

And she only listened to her brothers. There the list ended. Not Meryl, pregnant Milly, Nicholas who owes her his very life - none of them.

She was asleep. This time the tears began silently, face pinched in fear and lip trembling. Knives sat up slightly and then leaned against her, left hand slowly and softly rubbing her arm. "Glory," he whispered, quietly as he could and still be audible. Saying her name alone tended to help, if only slightly. "Glory. Glory."

She whimpered in her sleep, expression growing more intense. She gave a harsh sob, but then paused, tears halting. She whimpered again and then said, "No!" and then she buried her face in the pillow, crying hard and loud. Her left hand gripped the pillow tightly and muscles stood out along her arm as she held on for dear life. With a wince Knives leaned forward more, resting against her because he knew it helped.

He heard cloth tear and knew she ripped the pillow. She did that a lot, so often nobody paid too great attention to it. He listened more alertly to her, in case there was break in her sobs or if she spoke in her sleep. Both were rare; her pain almost never rested, and she hardly ever voiced what she was seeing.

But this time was special, it seemed. She did speak. She said his name.

At first it was so quiet and hushed that Knives couldn't be sure he heard anything. But that caught his attention and he lifted his head, watching the back of hers seeing as how her face was still in the pillow. This time he knew it when she whimpered his name, and found himself gripping her arm.

"Glory," he said, lowering his head nearer to hers. "What do you see?"

She shook her head. "Knives. . ."

"I'm here; what do you see?" he tried again, catching a spark in Vash's mind. Apparently she'd alerted him too, somehow or another.

But she shook her head a second time and yanked at the pillow, eventually throwing it at the foot of the bed without lifting her head. So it was going to be one of these times - when she tore at everything she could grab. Knives still had a bruise from the last time, when she'd grabbed _him_ and yanked and even twisted.

"What are you waiting for?" Knives said this time, hoping a different, seemingly random question would get her.

"Knives," she said again. "Vash. . .Hurts. . ."

"Glory!" he hissed. "Are you waiting for something? For someone?"

She writhed, stretching against the bed and facing more downward, away from him. The water shut off in the shower. "No. . .yes. . .h-help. . ."

"I'm still here," Knives told her, sitting up and trying to coax her onto her back. "You're waiting for someone?"

"Need. . .help," she said, resisting his tugging.

"Who's help?" he asked.

She shook her head and jerked sharply away from him, tears coming harder and devoting herself entirely to crying for the time being.

__

No, Knives thought, asking more questions. _If you shut up now I'll never get you out again. Talk to me, damn it!_

It didn't take long for Vash to come out, dressed except for his boots and the fact that his shirt was unbuttoned mostly. He was drying his hair, and watched Knives carefully. "She's talking?" he asked.

"For now," Knives replied. "What do you need, Glory?"

"Help," she said, the word almost torn from her throat in between great sobs.

"Who's help? I'm here. Do you need me?"

"Help. . .from - No," she said, shaking her head again. She tried to roll away again, but Knives held his grip. If he couldn't get her on her back, then she'd stay on her side. She whimpered and struggled half-heartedly against Knives' grip. "But - no - run - have to - can't. . .stop!" she said, last, and wrenched herself away from Knives, left hand balled and slamming into the metal hull, making a loud clang ring out.

Both brothers jumped a the sudden noise, and then both were trying to restrain Glory as she fought against someone in her dream. She shouted at them as well, but after a few minutes of struggles, she stopped entirely and simply cried. Another worried glance passed between the twins and they eased up slowly, making sure Glory wasn't going to thrash out again. When they were satisfied she was going to stay generally unmoving until she woke, Vash left to fill in what had happened to the rest of their little group.

As usual, Knives stayed and thought over the latest developments. One might think of her words as a consecutive thought, but he knew better. When she shouted, words broken and spoken fast, he knew she was jumping from subject o subject, catching a glance of one part of her mind and turning to find a different part and letting out a word or two for each. It was incredibly difficult to keep up with, and harder still to categorize and discern. But he was the Big Brother, the smartest and most civilized of them, and he would find out what she meant. Even if it meant his death.

When dealing with Glory, it might very well be.

Captain

"Have you discovered the cause of that clang?" he asked a young man who had gone to investigate.

He nodded. "I believe it was one of the passengers, sir. Sounded like a woman who was having a nightmare. I checked the numbers and it's listed that a female in that cabin is slightly insane."

"Slightly?" the captain repeated. "What type of insane? Is she dangerous to us?"

"Negative, sir," the young man replied. "She's not legally insane. It says here that she dealt with a powerful mental disturbance and is still recovering. She's not dangerous - not that they listed. She just cries in her sleep and speaks in riddles. Her emotions change easily and without warning."

"So my ship, my crew and my passengers are all safe?"

"Correct, sir," the man replied and saluted him.

"Dismissed," the captain told the young man, who quickly disappeared. Once gone the captain returned his gaze out over the sand before them. He was in the control room, with five other men, each with a separate job to do. Ever since they shoved off, he knew something bad was going to happen, but hopefully, not very soon. It was a relief that it would not be by an insane woman with an unstable mind and emotions. Very good, actually.

But he just _knew_ something bad was going to happen. There was no such thing as a sand steamer trip without a problem, although usually it was a simple glitch or broken wire that needed a few minutes to fix. Only twice over his career was it anything more serious than that. He was glad of that.

Glory

Her eyes shot open and she sat up sharply, blinking a few previously unshed tears down her cheeks. Knives was - as always - alerted instantly when she awoke, and within seconds he was nearby, watching almost discretely in case she needed something. Breathing calmed for the time being, she looked blankly in front of her. After a short while her vision unfocused and her hearing began buzzing, and then she heard what she was listening for - the antsy spirit that tended to follow her.

It was often hard to understand what it meant, but this time, the message was clear.

__

"Fear. . .pain. . .beware. . .soon, very. . .dozens. . .want. . ."

Okay, so perhaps a regular person wouldn't understand at all. But Glory was used to such broken and odd messages, and spirits tended to stick with one subject at a time. Glory repeated what she'd heard slowly, and blinked to get her vision back and then looked over at Knives.

"What?" he said, looking more or less shocked.

"Fear, pain, beware, soon, very, dozens, want," she repeated.

"Why did you say this?" he asked, still shocked and unmoving.

"Spirit said it," she explained. "It follows me, warns me. I can hear it now."

"It's been there all along?"

"Yes," Glory said, and then stood up, stretching her muscles. "Vash?" she asked.

"Still with Meryl," Knives replied, slowly coming out of his stupor. "That message - what do you think it means?"

"Warning," Glory told him. "Fear and pain to come, beware it - very soon. Dozens want. . ."

Knives' eyes seemed to spark. "Bandits?" he asked.

"Dozens," Glory replied. "Soon. Very soon. _Pain_."

Knives was already speaking with Vash mentally, informing him of everything Glory said. And as Knives thought, Vash agreed that it would probably be bandits.

__

"Now! Hide!"

Obeying, Glory dashed into the bathroom and climbed up in the vent after shutting the door. She conveyed the message mentally to her brothers and heard Knives come in.

"Glory!" he said, reaching up to grab her ankle.

"Hide," she repeated. "They're here, hide!" she urged.

It was already too late. The door crashed open and Knives quickly replaced the vent's screen, telling Glory not to move yet. He exited the bathroom and shouted at the trespassers, and then Glory plugged her ears, curled up and counted in her head, until she reached five hundred. Well, with how she jumped between numbers, it was probably more than that, or still possibly less. Either way, she finally got down and glanced around the room.

No one was here.

"Knives? Vash?"

__

"Caught."

"Caught. . ."

And so ends chapter thirteen. As I have said in Trans. . .I hate this number!!! It's just one of those 'bad luck' things!! Everyone has one, but damn, why does mine have to be thirteen??!!!!

Damn it all.

Date: May sixteenth. Time: 6:04 am.

Thank you.

DL


	14. Mental Health

The Usual Disclaimer: I do not own Trigun, Meryl, Milly, Wolfwood, Rem, Knives, or Vash, as much as I wish I owned one particular character. . . .Oh, well. I can dream, can't I?

Glory

Chapter Fourteen: Mental Health

"Alone again," Glory whispered, looking around the room. No Knives, no Vash, no Meryl or Milly or Nicholas. She was alone.

And she _hated_ being alone. She remembered her thoughts, wondering how she had ever gotten along without being with her brothers. And now that she had them, she couldn't be separated anymore. She had to find them and bring them back. And they had to be on board; the steamer hadn't stopped. At least not yet.

Where are you? Vash? Knives? she thought. She checked Meryl's room first, searching as fast as she could - which is pretty damn fast when it came to her and her brothers. She found nothing she could use, not even a single derringer or Milly's stun gun. Not only that, but she didn't find a single clue left behind as to where anyone went to.

Milly probably gave in without a fight for her baby, and Nicholas. Meryl likely didn't put up much of a fight for the same reason. Vash was trying for a clean break of that part of his life, so he wouldn't have resisted, either. But Knives. . .Knives was the question.

On the one hand, there was no way he would have let the bandits catch him or tie him up. But on the other, he would if it meant Glory wouldn't be found. Fighting would only suggest that there was somebody else hiding somewhere, someone that needed to be protected.

Glory almost laughed at the thought. _Protected_. Like her brothers, the last thing she needed was protection. A little help every now and again, but not _protection_. They were plants; they didn't need guards or warriors to watch over them.

Ignoring the thoughts and an overwhelming urge to begin singing again, Glory stood and walked out of the room, straight across the way into the dining room. No one was here, either. She looked around carefully, picking up everything she could, before moving on. Kitchen: nobody. Control room: empty. Captain's room: rather creepy, but empty.

She already knew everyone had been cleared out of their rooms, so that left cargo and the deck to be checked. Cargo was entirely filled; not a worm could get in and not be squished by something else. With the areas narrowed down so far, she didn't have to second guess where everybody was - had been taken to. The deck.

Glory began a trek back up to the control room. She looked over the buttons, switches, dials and other assorted controls before pushing a button and pulling a lever. The steamer gave a strong jerk and swayed before slowing down and then speeding back up. It didn't really do anything except put the bandits on alert, which is what she wanted. They'd be hurrying now, thinking that something was wrong with the steamer and it would undoubtedly crash.

Stepping back, Glory eyed the ceiling, one hand lifting to the side of her head to steady the spinning thoughts and feelings. "Cut it out," she whispered. Her head began leaning left, eyes blinking and brows drawing together. With a strong shake of her head everything settled and she looked up again.

"The vent," she said aloud, "will take me to an outside screen. I can kick it out and climb onto the deck with little problem." Then she blinked. "No. I should get higher than the deck - the lookout. They won't expect for someone to be looking down on them. No. Yes. Yes," she said again, firmer. "But what then?"

Without giving it too much thought, she began weaving her way through the steamer, up stairs and down corridors. She emerged through a round opening to look down on the deck, maybe fifteen or twenty feet higher. Her eyes picked out a multitude of people, about three quarters tied up and sitting down. The rest were either bandits or people standing due to the lack of room. A few were dangling dangerously near the edge of the deck, probably there because of the jump Glory caused.

And then her eyes picked out two blonde heads, side by side and with their backs against the railing, sitting. Before she could even smile in relief, Vash's voice was in her head.

Don't move, he said.

Glory blinked confusedly at him. _Vash -_

Don't move, he repeated. _Just stay there._

But I have to -

Stay there, Knives' voice interrupted. _We've already come to an agreement. After these human bandits leave we can simply forget the entire thing and go about our lives._

Don't make a scene, Vash added.

You two can't just - Glory argued, only to get cut off again.

Get down and -

Stay put!! both brothers finished.

Glory struggled for a moment, watching them. On one hand, they together knew a lot more than she did, despite her learnings from Rem and all the knowledge she was born with. You just couldn't compete with twin geniuses. On the other, they could be in danger and she was, well. . .insane. The very thought that her brothers might be in trouble, even the slightest bit, rises above what they tell her to do.

And as such, she stood from her crouched position and leapt, even as her brothers mentally yelled at her, even as they turned to see her. She landed on one bandit and shoved another into a third, moving as fast as possible and aiming directly to disarm the men first, so that they wouldn't get a chance to shoot at her.

And someone was staring at her. Not threatening, not measuring her up, not scared. Just staring in something like. . .like odd wonder. And not only that, he was coming forward between thrown bodies.

Glory managed to spin and swing at him before he entirely reached her. He jerked back and she swung twice more and spun again, aiming a kick for his gut. He caught her foot and Glory was thrown off balance, reaching back to grab the railing and push harder.

"Glory?" he asked, still with that wonder in his eyes and now his voice. "Don't you recognize me?"

"Apparently not," she replied, and then kicked with her left foot, hitting his chin and flipping backwards. Her feet planting on the railing, catching it between the joint in her boots. She stood and wavered, trying to catch her balance again.

And then that man did something that amazed her. He hit one of his lackeys that was going after her, grabbed her hips and set her on the deck again. Glory stumbled as she got her footing and - still within the state of mind to attack - swung at him again, repeatedly. When she went to trip him, he even did a back handspring.

"Don't anybody touch her," he snarled as some bandits came forward.

Glory eyed them all as carefully and quickly as possible before turning her eyes back to that man.

"Come on, Glory, think," he urged her, much more calmly this time. "You used to babysit me every day. Remember?"

Glory thought about it and came up with thirty names. "How long ago was it?"

"Twenty two years," the man replied.

That narrowed it down to seven. "Where?"

"May City."

Three. By looking at him, she noted brown hair, ice blue eyes and a certain freckle on his left collar bone. . . "Marcus," she said at last.

Marcus grinned. "Ha, I knew you'd remember!"

"Little Marcus that refused to let go of my leg?" Glory went on, shocked.

He laughed. "That was me. My God, Glory, look at you! Is blonde your natural hair color?"

"It is for now," Glory laughed back. "At least till I get tired of it. Next it should be red."

"This is all very fascinating," Knives interrupted, "but perhaps we could skip ahead?"

"What your mouth!" somebody snapped, aiming a gun at Knives.

"Drop it!" Glory yelled and dashed forward, hitting him in the jaw and sending him flying.

"Hold it!" Marcus snapped, right arm out to hold off attacks from his men. "I said _nobody touch her_," he warned them, sending a searing gaze to every bandit present.

The rest of the captives were getting restless. People were shifting, murmuring. The crew were getting antsy, ready to get up and attack at any moment to win back their ship.

Marcus looked pointedly at Knives. "Who's this guy to you?"

"One of my big brothers," Glory returned, evenly.

"One of?" Marcus asked. "How many do you have?"

"Two that I know of."

"I take it he's the other one, then?" Marcus went on, gesturing Vash, who was barely seen behind Glory's left leg.

"Yes," Glory said, and then leaned her head left, eyes closing. There were those spirits again, trying to speak all at once. "Would you shut up and let me handle this?" she hissed.

Marcus noticeably straightened, and Knives and Vash looked up at Glory worriedly.

"Glory," Marcus began slowly, "are you alright?"

She looked at him. "I had a mental breakdown," she explained. "It's still rebuilding."

"How?"

"I was shot. Thirty two times, and barely survived." The words were hard to say, nearly impossible. Glory found she had to whisper to get them out.

Marcus' eyes widened, both in shock and recognition. "You're her, then. Glory the Immortal."

"What?" Glory asked, sharply.

"It's been everywhere," Marcus explained. "The rumors are all a bit different, but the message is the same. Shot more than thirty times, maximum loss of blood, possible organ transfers. . .Supposed to have died by all standards, but she lived. Glory the Immortal."

The bandits were shifting uneasily now, and all eyes were riveted to Glory. Glory herself could hardly move, staring directly at Marcus but not seeing him, shocked. Her name was spread around the planet, with the suffix 'the Immortal'. She was Glory the Immortal, likely feared, just like Vash the Stampede and Knives Millions.

The thought occurred to her that if everyone here found out about Vash and Knives, they'd be the most famous family in the Universe's history. Vash the Stampede, Knives Millions and Glory the Immortal. Famous and feared above anyone else, even the Nebraska family.

"What else do you know?" Glory asked, her defensive pose relaxing with each second she remained stunned.

"Well, so far you haven't broken any laws or anything, so there's no warrant for your arrest or bounty," Marcus began. "But people keep looking out for an Immortal, scared witless. You see?" he added, gesturing the people still tied up and staring at Glory in the same type of shock that she was feeling.

A mother cried out when Glory's eyes met hers and lunged forward to try and hide a child. Glory's knees gave out and she found herself breathing quickly. "I'm - but I can't be - it's not. . .I shouldn't. . ." She looked at Marcus with a type of panic. "I've been hiding my entire life! I can't be widely known now! I can't be - someone has to - oh, _god_," she finished, dropping her head into her hands.

Dimly, she heard Marcus coming forward, and Vash and Knives shifting, undoubtedly getting their hands free.

And then her ears were buzzing loudly, and she could feel her eyes unfocus. She knew she was still muttering, breathing fast and shaking, although she couldn't feel it anymore. The knowledge of her being renowned and feared after only helping for so long - it was overwhelming. She just couldn't take it all.

Jerking herself back to reality sharply, she focused entirely on the threat of her family, and got up. Staring directly at Marcus, she spoke. "Get off this ship now and you'll get away with all your limbs intact," she told him.

Marcus seemed stunned by her words. "Glory - don't you still remember me? Glory?"

"Get out of here," she told him. "And all your men. Don't make me attack you."

"Wait a minute," Marcus said, hands lifting and coming forward.

"Stop where you are," Vash warned sharply.

"Who are you to -"

"Shut up and listen," Knives interrupted. He stood, hands untied as Glory knew he'd done. Beside him, Vash stood as well, and their heads leveled with Glory's. Together they looked like triplets.

"Glory already told you she had a breakdown," Vash went on.

"She only can focus one thing at a time," Knives continued, and Vash picked up again.

"A moment ago it was that name you gave her."

"But I didn't -" Marcus began, but Knives continued, heedless.

"Now it's us. Her brothers. If you want to leave with your limbs intact, as she put it, then -"

"You shouldn't take another step forward."

"She won't hesitate to _disarm_ you if you come any closer."

"She can be very brutal if she has to."

"Nothing you do can stop her."

"Nothing you could say, either."

"So it's best you take our - and her - advice and -"

"Leave _now_," the two finished together.

The passengers were wide-eyed now, if they weren't before. The crew were all scared, and the captain staring. The bandits were noticeably shaken, guns wavering as they held them in white-knuckled grips. Glory hadn't moved once since she stood up. And Marcus himself was looking a bit pale. Nonetheless, he tried to speak.

"W-we can't leave," he started. "Not yet. We have to stop first and - somewhere populated, I mean. We can't get off because we don't have cars or anything."

"So?" Glory asked, her voice darker than usual. Especially towards a man who once was a boy who had a crush on her and she babysat. "You're so big and strong, you could just strut to the next town."

"You don't understand - we're going to _December_," Marcus stated firmed. "Right now we're twenty iles into the middle of nowhere."

"Twenty, is that all?" Glory asked him.

"That can't be too far for a bandit," Vash went on.

Knives smirked. "Perhaps we could wait a bit, until we're _thirty _iles in the middle of nowhere."

"Great idea," Vash conceded. "How about forty?"

"Fifty?"

"We're passing at an ile a minute," Glory added. "An hour wouldn't be too long."

"Sixty iles, what a thought!" Knives agreed, grinning broadly.

"That should be quite an exercise," Vash continued.

Glory's mind was shifting again. As usual, her head tilted left and her left hand lifted to press the back of her hand against her forehead. She moaned, hearing lyrics in her head and singing them. "She gave you everything she had, but she was young and dumb she'd just turned twenty one. She didn't care to hang around, so when the shit came down why she was nowhere to be found. This life can turn a good girl bad, she was the sweetest thing that you had ever seen. You're such a delicate boy, in a hysterical realm, of an emotional landslide, in a physical -"

"Glory?" Marcus said, stepping back, but Glory was going on.

"With your cherry lips your golden curls, you could make grown men gasp when you go walking past them. In your hot pants and high heels, they could not believe that such a body was for real. It seemed like rainbows would appear, whenever you came near the clouds would disappear because you look just like a girl - your baby blues would flash and suddenly the sky was cast."

Marcus was looking more and more scared by the second. "Glory, you know me!" he tried.

"Your such a delicate boy, in a hysterical realm. Of an emotional landslide, in a physical terms. You hold a candle in your heart, you shined the light on hidden parts, you make the whole world, wanna dance you bought yourself a, second chance."

"She's almost done with the song," Vash observed.

"As soon as she's done, so are you," Knives warned Marcus.

Marcus threw a sharp glance over his shoulder. "Untie the crew and have them stop the steamer."

Four bandits snapped themselves out of stupor to do so.

Glory gasped and collapsed while the steamer was slowing, head in hands and panting. The passengers were all untied and now there was a crowd around Glory, staring oddly. Besides Vash and Knives Meryl, Milly and Nicholas all gathered close and tried to calm her.

They had a game they played when Glory was especially off. Vash would begin, listing off a few random things, and Glory would say the first thing that came to mind. He would keep listing faster until Knives took over, still speeding up and leaving Glory behind as she fumbled with her words. It would continue to switch between the brothers until Glory begged them to slow down, and by then, her mind was always back - at least to an extent.

Marcus stared at her the entire time as though she were someone completely different from the woman who had raised him more than his own parents did. When at last the steamer stopped, his bandits began stepping off, scared witless as he'd described the people when referring to Glory the Immortal.

Glory stopped him on his way off, just jumping up and running over to him to grab his arm. "Wait, Marcus," she said.

He looked sharply at her, half expecting her to try and _'disarm'_ him. "Glory?" he managed.

"I freaked you out, didn't I? I told you my mind -"

"You told me you were insane," he cut her off. "I get it. Look, Glory -"

"Stay."

Both 'stunned' and 'surprised' were too mild to describe him now. "What?"

"I want you to stay. You calmed me down. That small talk - I needed that."

"But you -"

"Snapped," Glory finished for him. "But you knew me long before my brothers did. I think. . .I think I need all three of you to get through this."

Marcus looked over at her brothers. He still didn't know their names, but judging by the way the two of them had looked at him earlier, the platinum blonde was the eldest of the three. Or, at least, he assumed that position. "I don't think they like me. And what about my men?" he asked, looking at Glory again - who was eye level with him.

"They'll be fine. I'm sure my brothers are willing to share some of the duty."

"You're not duty," Marcus chuckled. "Whatever made you think that way - you're not some job. Do you. . .honestly think I can help?"

"Undoubtedly," Glory said, easily.

Marcus let out a laugh. "You're always serious when you use those words."

"I'm glad you remembered."

"And the captain?"

"I'm pretty sure he'd even _pay_ you if it meant keeping me calm and - sane."

"Damn straight," the captain said, standing off to the side and watching the rest of the bandits wander off.

Everyone got a laugh from that.

------------------------------------------------------

Until next chapter, here I am, saying good night!

Song: Cherry Lips by Garbage (female).

Date: May 19th. Time: 11:41 pm.

DL


	15. Recovering

The Usual Disclaimer: I do not own Trigun, Meryl, Milly, Wolfwood, Rem, Knives, or Vash, as much as I wish I owned one particular character. . . .Oh, well. I can dream, can't I?

Glory

Chapter Fifteen: Recovering

Glory groaned, not wanting to wake up. Which was a feat unto itself - she never wanted to _sleep_ anymore, always trying to stay awake. She actually wondered if she'd cried this time or not.

Yesterday was hectic, getting everything to calm down. It was the first thing she remembered. As soon as Marcus agreed to stay and the captain agreed to let him stay, Glory had reached up and grabbed his ear. She pulled him behind her all the way to her room, sat him down, and told him to explain why he had turned out the way he had. He gave her a dozen excuses and reasons why it wasn't such a bad thing, but he couldn't tell her why he had at last chosen to steal.

But he said he was honorable. They didn't steal from women or do anything diabolical, like killing or raping. He strictly forbade it among his men, and seeing as how he could beat any one of them in anything, they agreed with little problem.

And then all the tension seemed to drain away. While Glory and Marcus reminisced, Vash spent some time with Meryl and everyone on the steamer became relaxed. The only person who wasn't pleased with the turnout was Knives. The only reason why he gave in so far was because Glory knew it'd be good for her and Vash wholeheartedly agreed to it. He was outnumbered, and he had to admit, other than his talks with her, he wasn't doing much good. And Marcus was keeping her occupied with things to think and talk about, and for the first time since her breakdown, she slept without crying.

It made him extremely jealous. To think that human could help his sister more sane than he and his twin could was unfathomable. Of the three of them, Knives knew the most about psychology, how to break someone and rebuild them how he wanted them to be. Glory had broken and he was rebuilding her, back to the way she was.

But Marcus was simply talking to her, and he was helping more than Knives had in the past weeks. Unfathomable. Inconceivable.

Impossible.

Stop being so jealous, Knives, Glory thought, sitting up. She rubbed her eyes and blinked at her brother, who was still lying next to her, only he had his arms crossed and looked like a child who'd been denied his favorite treat.

How can this human possibly help you more than I can?

I raised him, Glory returned, crawling over him to get up and stretch. Knives in turn sat up and faced her. _At least that's what he claimed. It's a woman thing; don't bother trying to analyze it._

A woman thing, Knives repeated. He sounded disgusted. _Are you becoming like these humans?_

I'm becoming nothing, except for sane, she told him firmly. _A woman thing is exactly what it sounds like: feelings and thoughts that only a creature capable of birth could explain._

"And that would be a woman, I presume," Knives sneered.

"Yes, and you would be a man, so stop puzzling over it," Glory replied, heading towards the bathroom. She took off her hair tie and dropped it on the sink before undressing and starting the water.

With hardly a pause Knives followed her and kept up the conversation where it left off. _I wonder which is more uncomprehendable: a man or a woman._

And what do you mean by that? Glory asked, stepping into the shower and pulling the curtain closed.

Understandable by the opposite sex, Knives clarified. _In a man's eyes a woman seems unpredictable and emotional. In a woman's, a man looks rash and unfeeling._

And therein lies the problem, Glory thought back with a smirk, rubbing shampoo through her long tresses. She really ought to cut it. When down, her hair reached her thighs. _That is why men and women will never understand each other. Everyday women are smarter than everyday men and think on more points. On the other hand, men are undeniably born stronger and see women as weaker and not worthy of a passing glance._

But that's not true or right, Knives argued. _I've seen what women can do, what they're capable of. Besides being caring as Rem was, I've seen strong ones as you are. They come in a variety of personalities that men would likely never reach._

So you can see how each sex views the other? Glory asked as she switched over to conditioner.

Yes. It's easy enough to think on both points.

And through all this thinking, you can't see things through a human's eyes?

Silence. Knives had drawn back into his own mind and locked it, keeping her out. She knew that it was his defensive move, to hide his thoughts entirely until he could come up with something to say in return, a rebuttal to prove himself right. Only half the time did he think of something to say, and only half of those did it keep the conversation going.

So Glory hummed as she waited, ignoring the spinning in her mind that signaled another of her trips. Instead she left the water on and stepped out, grabbing a towel as Knives took her place in the shower. It was a routine they developed some time ago: the three of them, today two, leaving the water running for their sibling to take their place and wash.

Come up with anything yet? she asked, amused.

She only got more silence as an answer, but nonetheless felt his agitation. He hated it most of all when he got cornered, verbally or physically.

She smirked and dressed in her usual clothes, putting her pajamas in the bag they belonged in. That was a funny thing about how they pack: everything light was in bags, and everything else in suitcases. There was nothing heavy that they had to take with them, thank god. Well. . .other than Glory.

She laughed at the thought. She was baggage as long as she couldn't do anything of worth. So far the only good thing she'd really done were remodel the innards of their house and then fight off the bandits - if you could call it that. Marcus had done most of the work, and Glory had been scary backup. She wondered, briefly, what happened to those bandits.

Oh well, she thought, putting on her boots. _It's a hazard of the life style. They should have known._ Getting up, she grabbed her tie out of the bathroom and got an eyeful of Knives. She was chuckling as she put up her hair again. _Cold water, Knives?_ she asked, teasingly.

Don't act human, Knives returned. _Only they would tease a man about such a thing._

I like to rebel, Glory replied with another laugh. _So tell me, was the water cold?_

Not at first, Knives said as he exited the bathroom. "You did, however, use most of the hot water issued to our room."

"In a five-minute shower, I'm sure," Glory said while rolling her eyes. "All I did was wash my hair."

"And how much hair do you have?" Knives returned, making a point.

Glory grinned. "Either too much or not enough depending on your standards."

"Cut your hair."

"Later," Glory replied, opening the door. She turned and winked. "I've got to see a man about a brain. Love and peace!" she added, shutting the door.

Do not **ever** say that,Knives snarled at her.

Yes, master, Glory said in turn, mimicking an Igor mental accent.

Although he didn't say anything, she could feel his emotions spike at that - mostly his agitation. It gave Glory a few extra bounces to her step as she went in search of Marcus again. She could feel him nearby, but Plant powers didn't include a blueprint of the area you were in. She's more likely to get lost than to find him without playing a game of Marco Polo.

In, fact, that's what she did. "Marcus!" The call echoed down a hallway and around a corner. Glory let her fingers trail across either wall as she walked, and called again. "Marcus!"

Again the hallway carried this along, and it wasn't long before she heard a "Glory," and followed it.

"Marcus!"

"Glory." Left turn, middle passage, fork -

"Marcus!"

"Glory. . ." Right, right, left -

"Marcus!"

"Glory!"

"Marcus!"

"Gotcha!"

"What?"

"Boo!"

Glory spun at the sound and saw -

Vash.

"What are you doing, Vash?" she asked, sounding exasperated.

"Well, I was trying to find Marcus, but then you started calling him so I followed."

"You followed _me_."

"Yep."

"And what were you doing looking for Marcus?"

"I was going to talk to him."

"Do you know how to navigate this steamer?"

"Where do you want to go?"

"Wherever Marcus is," Glory laughed.

Vash took a deep breath. "From here you go: left, left, right, up the stairs, third right, second left, down the stairs, u-turn, right, right, loooooong left, up the stairs -"

Glory started laughing. "Alright, alright! So you don't know. How'd you get here?"

"Right, right, second left, up the stairs, third right, forth left, down the stairs, down the stairs, left, left, right, left -"

"Enough!" Glory laughed out. She lifted her hands for further effect. She heard Vash laughing with her and couldn't resist hugging him. "I wonder how you always manage to do that," she said as she drew back.

"Do what?"

"Make everyone laugh, no matter who it is," Glory replied easily, looking down the corridors.

"It's a gift. I have a lot of those."

"No kidding." Stuck at a fork and having looked in either direction as far as her eyes could see, Glory turned her back to the fork and leaned against the wall. Arms and ankles crossed, she was in a pose for serious thinking. It's when she shut her eyes and tilted her head that Vash got worried.

"You - You're not going -"

"Shut up," Glory said, and her head tilted more, sharply.

"Left."

"Left," Glory repeated and turned that way.

"Wait -" Glory stopped to look at Vash. "Your left or my left?"

"What's the difference?" Glory asked.

"Your left or the left corridor?" Vash clarified.

"Oh, that. Hmm." Thinking it over, she decided that the spirit would mean her left, being the one who talked to her most. "My left. Come on." She reached out and grabbed Vash's wrist to tug him along. She began whistling somewhere along the line, following the orders the spirit gave her. Without concentrating all she could feel was the general will, but it was enough to tell her instinct which way to go.

And it led them to a dead end.

Glory groaned. "What are you guys _doing_?" she asked, dropping her head into her hands.

"Glory? . ." Vash asked, concerned.

"That's right," Glory sighed, leaning against a wall. "You don't know. I didn't tell you."

"Tell me what?"

"The spirits talk to me. Well - not really. They just. . .have an odd way of communicating."

There was that concerned look again. "Are you feeling alright?"

Glory glared at the ceiling. "I'd feel better if I could find _Marcus_!" she snarled.

And then, very faintly, she heard her name. She looked at Vash to see him wearing a look identical to her own. So he'd heard it, too. "Marcus?" she called, loudly.

"Glory. . ."

Glory pointed at the ceiling and Vash looked that way. "He's a floor above us."

Vash was eyeing the walls. "There's a vent. . .And. . ." He turned around. "A staircase."

Glory lifted her arm. "I vote for the stairs."

"Agreed."

Glory chuckled as they began that way, and halfway there, she shoved Vash and said, "Race ya!"

She made it all the way up the stairs before she was tackled. With a yelp she rolled and tried to pin Vash. They ended up knocking each other over and shoving at one another, pins be damned. Until they were about ten feet from Marcus, that is. Then Vash hoisted her up on his shoulder and waved.

"Hey! Put me down! Vash!" Glory snapped, knowing better than to straighten. She'd hit her head on the ceiling if she tried. And with her back to Marcus, she didn't know he was there until he made himself known.

"Hey, Glory. Hi Vash," he said.

Glory quit struggling. "Marcus?" With some contortionist wriggling she was able to see above Vash's head. "Marcus!" she said, smiling. And she kicked forward, kneeing Vash in the gut.

Vash, in turn, obediently let her down. He leaned against a wall, holding his middle. "That wasn't nice!" he whined in that little kid voice.

Glory stuck her tongue out. "Neither was you lugging me around like a sack of dirty laundry."

"Nice metaphor," Marcus observed.

"Simile," both siblings corrected. Glory continued. "Metaphors use 'is' and 'are'. Similes use 'like' or 'as'. Get it?"

Marcus rolled his eyes. "How about we talk about something else?"

"Like how you managed to find yourself here?" Glory suggested. They all looked around at that, noticing how tough it would be to make it here. "Speaking of, how did _we_ make it here?" she wondered aloud.

"Luck?" both men suggested.

Glory laughed. "Right, so how do we make it _out_?"

The men glanced at each and then Marcus looked at the stairs. "Backtrack?" Marcus asked.

"Converse with the spirits?" Vash teased.

Stick my foot up your ass? Glory thought, without meaning to. And apparently she left the thought open as well, seeing as how Vash heard.

What kind of a baby sister are you?! he asked, shocked.

Glory grinned. _A defective one._ "So which way should we try?" she asked aloud.

"Up the stairs," Vash said.

Glory nodded her agreement. "Towards the deck."

"And the 'You Are Here' sign," Marcus added.

Glory laughed. "Naturally."

They all began up the stairs as suggested and Glory trailed behind the men, humming softly. It wasn't until they made their third turn that she began a beat and finally, sang. She clapped three times with the beat. "Buddy you're a boy make a big noise playing in the street gonna be a big man some day. You got mud on your face, you big disgrace, kicking your can all over the place, singing -"

Marcus knew this song. So he joined in with her, clapping and singing the chorus. "We will, we will, rock you!" Clap, clap clap, clap. "We will, we will, rock you!"

The song's beat was heavily contagious, made all the more clear when Vash joined in with the beat.

"Buddy you're a young man hard man shouting in the street gonna take on the world some day. You got blood on your face, you big disgrace, waving your banner all over the place, singing -"

"We will, we will, rock you! Singing we will, we will, rock you!"

"Buddy you're an old man poor man pleading with your eyes gonna make you some peace some day. You got mud on your face, you big disgrace, somebody better put you back into your place, singing -"

"We will, we will, rock you! Singing we will, we will, rock you! Everybody, we will, we will, rock you! We will, we will, rock you!"

"Alright," Glory sang, finishing the song. And then she started laughing.

Marcus was grinning. "I forgot how fun it was to sing with you," he admitted.

"Don't worry; you're forgiven," Glory said, and leaned right as though pulled. When she looked that way, she saw that she'd been leaning against the wall as they walked and that the right wall broke off into another corridor.

And then she was yanked left and looked up. "Thanks, Vash," she said, not bothering to blush over the stupid mistake. What point was there to showing your emotions when your brothers could feel them?

Marcus had stopped. "I guess we go right?" he asked.

Glory shook her head. "No, I just slipped," she said. "Keep going."

Marcus grinned. "Only if you keep singing."

Glory laughed. "What's with you and wanting me to sing constantly? I'm going to end up with laryngitis."

"Just sing," Marcus laughed back as they began again.

Glory rolled her eyes. "Fine. Which song?"

"Sound Life," Vash suggested, making Glory laugh again.

"That's what I get for taking requests." Swallowing, she thought over the words for a moment. "So, on the first night, a pebble falls to the earth from somewhere. . ."

With Glory singing their requests, it took less time than they realized to make it to the deck and figure out how to get back to their rooms. Although Marcus didn't really have a room - he was a hanger-on, sleeping in the corridors with the rest. Glory wanted to let him stay in her and her brothers' room, but with Knives there as well, he really wasn't safe.

It was a little hard for her to tell him that, but in the end, they were all a little better off for it.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

And so ends chapter fifteen.

Date: May 27th. Time: 6:30 pm.

DL


	16. Milly's Family

The Usual Disclaimer: I do not own Trigun, Meryl, Milly, Wolfwood, Rem, Knives, or Vash, as much as I wish I owned one particular character. . . .Oh, well. I can dream, can't I?

Glory

Chapter Sixteen: Milly's Family

They were at December now. The entire steamer was loading and unloading, and they were just finishing their packing. As they were leaving, Meryl asked an interesting question.

It was something that had been growing on her mind since the first time she watched Glory and Vash wrestle.

"Just how flexible are you guys, anyway?"

Glory laughed and winked. "I'm sure you'll figure it out soon enough."

Both Meryl and Vash blanched at that and then began blushing.

Meryl shook herself out of it first, as everyone else rolled eyes or shook heads. "I'm being serious here!"

Glory grinned over her shoulder. "Like I said, you'll find out."

Vash coughed, a pointed sound. "Maybe we should change the subject."

"Why?" Glory asked, teasingly. She was having too much fun with this. "Afraid you're losing your touch?"

Judging by the color of his cheeks at that, just about everyone found out where he got the right tint to his coat. "Cut it out!" he whined.

Glory laughed and continued following Milly and Nicholas. They were going to Milly's home first, to meet her family and so on. They were going to provide housing for them until they secured their own residence. And is it just her, or do Glory's thoughts recently sound all too sophisticated?

About time you showed your true nature, Knives thought beside her.

Glory stuck her tongue out. _My true nature includes singing, driving insanely, and playing around. Words mean next to nothing, I'll have you know._

This sparked an argument between all three siblings, all of whom had their own visions on what a Plant's true nature was. Knives' pointed - rather obviously - the superiority of their species above all others. Vash's theory was that they were there as protectors and helpers of the human race, but by no means enslaved. Glory thought they were all equal and no one needed protection or enslavement.

We were meant to watch over them, Vash argued.

Please, we deserve to rule them, Knives returned smoothly.

You're both wrong; we're all the same, Glory shot back.

At this point they were all snapping so fast at one another that it was impossible to keep up. They eventually got angry at one another and stopped, glaring at each and continuing their mental tirade at each other. At present everyone else noticed this and watched them carefully, including a few townsfolk. They were all interested in why the three of them were glaring at one another, silent, but showing emotions that passed by quickly.

Glory put on a shocked look at Knives and narrowed her eyes. They both then turned theirs glares on Vash. Vash in turn sneered at Glory, who sneered back. AT last Glory's eye twitched and their mental conversation broke into verbal.

"Admit it; you're both wrong!" Glory snapped.

"_You're_ wrong!" the twins argued.

"I am not and you both know it!" Glory shouted. "Superiority on either of your views is entirely wrong!"

"Says the woman who hid her entire life!" Knives argued.

"Like you're any better!" Vash said, turning on his brother.

"No kidding! Declaring war on your twin - what's the matter with you?!" Glory added.

"My problem is the two of you!" Knives snapped.

"Prove it!" Glory and Vash shot back.

"I believe I'm the eldest here!" Knives continued. "Meaning that _I_ am right!"

"Wrong!" Glory and Vash said together.

"I'm teaching _you_ and _you_ promised to learn!" Glory went on.

"Stop!" Marcus snapped at them. "What's this all about?"

"Stay out of this!" the siblings shot at him.

People began shrinking away as they went on, yelling at each other. It went on and on until they pounced to stop the sibling Plants.

Nicholas grabbed Vash, Marcus got Glory, and Meryl and Milly knocked over Knives. While Glory and Vash near instantly calmed down, Knives only looked angrier. With a mutual glance and truce, Vash and Glory then got up and grabbed Knives. With their combined effort he had to submit for the time being, and soon their group was going on to the Thompson's. One could only imagine the hell they could raise _there_.

. . .Or the hell that would be thrown at them.

Once there, Milly threw open the door and shouted, "Milly's home!!"

There was an answering scream from her mother and then both her parents were at the door and hugging wildly. The three siblings in the back of their group stepped back apprehensively as Milly began introducing them.

"Remember Meryl? And this is Nicholas D. Wolfwood; I wrote about him. Over there Marcus - we just met him on the way over. And back there -" she pointed - "Is Mr. Vash, his brother Mr. Knives and his sister Miss Glory!"

Glory wiggled her fingers in an attempted wave, which turned out to be the wrong thing to do. Apparently neither Vash nor Knives had moved yet, and as such, it brought attention directly to her. Milly's father, a hugely strong man, came right up and hugged her with a "Welcome to the Thompsons!".

Trying not to seem unwelcomed, Glory patted his shoulder and urged him away. "Thank you very much, Mr. um. . ."

He grinned. "Phillip Grant Julius Norman Kyle Stan Jasper Thompson the second," he said and winked. "You can call me Phillip."

"With pleasure," Glory said back, unsure of what to say.

Phillip laughed and gestured for Milly's mother. "And this is my wife, Sara. Milly's mother, along with our other ten children. Come on inside; we've been expecting Milly any day now!" With another laugh he led them all inside, although the Plants were reluctant to follow, despite how Glory and Vash reveled in being part of a group.

The house was as huge inside as it looked from the outside. The living room they were led to took up half the first story, which was apparently necessary judging by the multitude of people revolving inside it. Currently they were all giving and receiving hugs from one very pregnant Milly, and welcoming Nicholas into the family with the same strong hugs. He was looking worse for wear when he finally got to sit down and Milly waved an arm at everyone still standing by the door.

Meryl took a firm stance and glared at anyone who tried to hug her, and as such she was spared the beating. Marcus jumped right in and compared biceps with a few people as well. It was when they spotted the 'triplets' - as Glory had dubbed the three of them - that Glory herself grew worried.

Knives' glare was twice as strong as Meryl's, sp everyone generally avoided him, but Glory and Vash weren't spared. About a dozen men with a half a dozen women gave hugs and coaxed Glory to sit on an abandoned couch as a dozen more spoke quickly to Vash and Knives, and Glory found herself as the object of affection for many unmarried men.

There was a man on either side of her, one on the right arm of the couch, and three behind her. In front of her was a short table, and two men were perched on it. The rest of the crowd were still circulating the room with dozens of children running between them.

"What's your name?" the man on her right asked.

"Glory," she replied, her head spinning from how many times she looked in another direction.

"Are those two your brothers?" the man on her left asked.

"Y-yes."

"Are you married?" the guy on her right went on.

"No."

"Seeing anyone?" the man behind her asked.

"No -"

"I'm Larry," the man on the right of the table said. He was shoved by the man on his right.

"I'm Terry."

"Nick."

"Damon."

"Ken."

"Gene."

"Jareth."

"Ferdinand."

Glory's head wasn't getting any clearer. "Nice to meet you," she tried.

Damon - the man on her right - leaned over and kissed her cheek as Ken - the man directly behind her - ran his fingers through her hair.

"That's enough!" Glory said and got up to dash between her brothers. She put an arm around either waist and two arms went around her shoulders. Vash on her right, Knives on her left, Knives' arm atop Vash's.

"Everyone calm down!" Phillip bellowed, voice traveling above everyone else's.

Glory yelped and jerked forward, then turned right and looked over her shoulder. A man grinned sheepishly and waved, and she kicked, aiming for his jaw. Right side kick, to be exact. The man's head snapped back and then he collapsed.

Phillip laughed and went over to pick him up. "Sorry about that; Nash here has wandering hands."

Glory whimpered and turned her back to Knives, and crossed her arms over her large bosom. These men seemed to like their own kind, which involved height and muscle - exactly what Glory was. And not only that, she was the only blonde woman in the room, not counting a five-year-old girl.

Knives' glare was all for show as he put his arms around Glory. _And what did that human do?_ he asked.

The pervert grabbed my ass! Glory said with a mental whine.

Is that it? Vash asked.

****

Vash!! Glory and Knives scolded him.

Vash winced. _Sorry._

Sara was hovering around them. "I'm really sorry about that! But come, we cleared a sofa for you. It's time to get to know everybody!" She practically sang as she led them to one of the six sofas in the room. Once sat down, Meryl took a place - rather boldly - on Vash's lap. Or rather, between his legs with her legs and arms crossed. Marcus perched on the left arm and faced to loveseat across from them, where Phillip and Sara sat. To their left a double-sized sofa sat with seven occupants, two of whom were Milly and Nicholas, and three of which held young children.

Suddenly Glory wanted to leave. And Knives felt the urge and tightened his arm around her shoulders protectively.

"Once again," Phillip began, "welcome to the family!" The entire room cheered at that and Phillip shushed them. "I'll begin introductions with my brothers and sisters." He began pointing. "Carrie, Fauna, Anthony, Wolf, Zoe, Samuel, Crystal, Jake, and Winifred."

Sara spoke up. "And my brothers and sisters: My twin Laura, Donald, Faith, Gregory, Casper, Serenity, Jarold and Bret."

Milly spoke up, almost singing as her mother was. "And that's David, Rebecca, Eric and Erica, Tamara, Sammy, Maria, Frank, Dolly and Larry!"

Everyone laughed.

Carrie, the first one to be listed off, introduced her family. "My husband Steve, and our children, Terry, Cordelia and Hope." They were triplets.

Laura, Sara's twin, was next to speak up. "My husband Vinny, our children Jason, Kyle, Darrel and Eliza."

Next to talk was Zoe. "Orion, my husband. John, Michael and Mitchell, our kids."

Then Fauna. "Virgo here is my husband, and these four hellions are our kids, Adrian, Ray, Quinn and Ulysses."

Serenity. "My husband Lucius, our kids Garth, Finia, Lacy, Norm and Dave."

Faith. "Nathan's my husband. Nick, Gene and Jean are my kids."

Crystal. "This idiot is Jerry, unfortunately my betrothed." The group laughed. "And Ariel, Cathy, Kat and Tracy, our four girls." Cathy and Kat were twins.

Winifred. "This is my husband, Ned. Our children should be raiding the kitchen - there they are!" Everyone laughed again. "Tyler, Charisma, Fanny and Bradley. Wave, kids."

That was it for Milly's aunts, so next her uncles began listing. It seemed to be their developed way of introducing themselves - women first, eldest to youngest, followed by the men. In-laws don't get to speak until after.

Donald went first. "My wife Athena, our children Abraham, Sirius and Catherine."

Gregory. "Torrance, my wife. Iris, Ruby, Max and Jared, _my_ kids." Torrance shoved Gregory and everyone enjoyed another chuckle.

Anthony. "This here is my unbelievably beautiful wife, Rain. And our equally beautiful children, Juniper, Greg, and Lyle, the triplets." Rain blushed and kissed Anthony.

Samuel. "This is Luvia, my _gorgeous_ wife -" this with a glare at Anthony - "and our _gorgeous_ kids, Will, Jewel, Emerald, Steven and Charlie." Anthony lifted his hands in surrender and then moved on.

Wolf. "Remember me? Wolf. My wife Zenia is right here. And our _five girls_, Susan, Kate, Nichole, Helen and Elvira." The group laughed at his emphasis on 'five girls', and Zenia punched his shoulder. Kate, Nichole and Helen were triplets.

Casper. "This is Jeanette, and over there, Carol, Sarah and Jareth."

"Haven't you guys ran out of names yet?" Glory muttered, taking a deep breath to resettle her concentration. There was more laughter from around her.

"Not quite," Bret laughed, being his turn. "Jennifer, my wife, and our son, Ken." Ken winked and cocked his finger at Glory.

Glory in turn shook her head and looked away from him, and again the room choused with laughter, this time pointed at Ken being turned down. He was obviously the 'stud' - one of the three blonde men in Milly's huge family.

Jake was next. He lifted his fist like he was talking into a microphone. "Hello, world, this is Jake Thompson talking to you from my parent's living room! Next to me is my oh-so-lovely wife, Tammy. Our two daughters are currently making lovey eyes at the newest stud in the room." The girls blushed and looked away, having been inspecting Knives. The laughter was harder this time. "This one's Samantha, and that one, Katrina. Once again this Jake Thompson, signing off. Goodbye and goodnight!"

As soon as he finished the room broke out in near uncontrollable laughter, and Glory allowed herself a few laughs as well.

Jarold cleared his throat. "Well, I can't top that, so I'm not going to bother," he said, and Jake stood up to bow. "This is my wife, Sara - yes, just like my big sister - and our three boys, Ferdinand, Nash and Tom. Nash, of course, who was knocked out earlier by this lovely lady," he added, gesturing at Glory.

"That's it, right?" Glory asked, more than a little unnerved by the looks she was still getting.

"Just about," Phillip laughed. "These two are my parents, Phillip Sr. and Marissa."

"My parents are right there," Sara continued. "Charles and Willow."

Milly grinned and began talking quickly. "David, Rebecca, Maria, Frank, Sammy, Tamara, Dolly and Eric are all married."

David nodded. "My wife Angela, my children Marie, Katie, Terry and Terrence the twins." Terry, a girl, waved as her brother, Terrence, bowed.

Rebecca continued with, "My husband Blaine and our kids Nikki, George, Quentin and Quentitia." Quentin and Quentitia were another set of twins, girl and boy.

Maria went next. "My husband Patrick and our children Darla, Paul, Paula, Stefan and Barbie." Again, Paul and Paula were a set of boy/girl twins.

Frank. "My wife Suzie, our young'ins, Damon, Lizzie, Elizabeth and Harold." No twins this time. Thank God.

Sammy. "My wife Clara, our twin girls Victoria and Veronica, and the runt, Sonny."

Tamara. "Matt my husband, Georgia, Fran, Cookie and Jeffrey my babies."

Dolly. "Sam here is my betrothed, with Ryan, Brad, Brendon and Andrew." Ryan was a woman and Brad and Brendon were twin boys.

Eric. "My wife Coraline, my babies Patricia, Angel, Drake, Becky and Darian." Angel, Darian and Drake were the boys.

Glory turned hopeful eyes on Phillip. "That's it?"

Phillip laughed and nodded. "That's it."

"Thank _god_," Glory sighed, dropping her head into her hands. She couldn't take much more of this.

The entire room exchanged worried looks and Milly was quick to explain.

"She's a little crazy but she's getting better!" she said with a thumbs-up.

Glory turned a glare on Milly. "Thanks bunches, Milly. Wonderful 'tact' ability you have, there."

"Relax," Marcus whispered.

Glory sighed and leaned back against the sofa, half leaning on Knives.

Milly stood up. "This is Nicholas everybody - Nicholas D. Wolfwood!" She pulled him up next to her. "That's Marcus, Meryl, Vash, Glory and Knives. Vash and Knives are -"

"Triplets," Knives interrupted, "with Glory."

Glory smiled at him. _Thanks. _

Of course, Knives returned, not even trying to smile.

You want everyone to believe we're triplets? Vash asked Glory.

It saves a lot of explanation time. Tell me how we're going to explain that I was born eleven months after you and had the full nine months humans need when it takes three months to recover from birth? Glory asked.

She got silence from both brothers and took it as their acceptance. _Besides,_ she added, shutting her eyes, _it makes a lot of sense. We act like it; we're all blonde and tall, we've got the same build, we sleep in the same bed most of the time, we have no modesty around each other. . . _

Point taken, Vash replied.

"So. . ." Larry said, standing. "Seeing anyone, Glory?"

With a groan Glory dropped her head into her hands again.

Knives glared. "If she were, he'd be here," he snarled. "And do not even _think_ that you can -"

"Relax, Knives," Vash interrupted. "Are you going to let her decide for herself or make all the decisions for her?"

"Cut it out, both of you," Meryl said.

Ken grinned. "I call first date."

This started a race as all the single men began calling, becoming a line to date Glory. The funny part was, Marcus looked just as angry as Knives did. Glory had a feeling that the both of them would be protecting her fiercely until they left. Which was a good thing, really.

And the Phillip stood. He settled everything down again and then showed the 'guests' to their makeshift rooms. His original intention was to give Glory a room all to herself, fit Vash with Meryl, have Knives share a room with Marcus and place Nicholas with Milly. Instead, Marcus was given a room for himself, Glory, Knives and Vash were bunked together, and Meryl got her own room next to Milly.

They were scheduled to come down for dinner, and possibly have Glory sing afterwards. Glory wished she could have just turned invisible and walked out the front door, never to be seen again.

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Geez, can you blame her? Know how many people are in that family that I alone mentioned? Try 147. That's not including the in-law's families or the cousins' families, either. I'll get to that next chapter. . .

Maybe. Shudder

Date: May 28th Time: 6:45 pm.

DL


	17. Moving On

**The Usual Disclaimer:** I do not own Trigun, Meryl, Milly, Wolfwood, Rem, Knives, or Vash, as much as I wish I owned one particular character. . .Oh well, I can dream, can't I?

**Glory **

**Chapter Seventeen: Moving On**

Glory woke slowly in the morning, dreading another day with the Thompsons. They'd been here a week so far, and Glory had been on five dates, asked out nearly thirty times, and knock out Nash a total of fifteen times. Knives snarled a lot, threatened the men of the family more so, and hit five of them at least twice. Vash often had to clamp Meryl to his side to keep men from asking her out, and was brought into near every conversation that fired in the family. Marcus joined right in the family as though they were his long-lost relatives, although most of the black eyes the male Thompsons got were from him, usually for asking Glory out. Milly joined in with laughter, never flinching when one of her family members got hit or knocked out, no matter who did what. Nicholas looked a little lost but followed Milly's example, and as such he was readily accepted as one of them. Meryl was the main problem, constantly yelling and reprimanding the Thompsons for their behavior.

And every night, Glory was recruited to sing. Sometimes with Katrina, Milly's cousin, daughter of Jake and Tammy (her sister). Her voice was much like Glory's, making them a wonderful type of duet to listen to, even though Katrina was barely fifteen. Glory, however, knew many more songs, leaving Katrina left behind most of the time. Sighing, Glory forfeited the attempt to stay asleep and sat up, rubbing her eyes absently. There were two beds in the room, and since Knives was by far the most protective of the three, Glory was the one who was more or less forced into sharing a bed with him, leaving Vash to sleep spread-eagle if he wanted to on his own bed. And because of the height of the Thompsons, these beds were bigger than the three usually got. Definitely bigger than the ones on the sandsteamer, which always left Glory's feet hanging off the edge.

The beds were just about the only up side Glory could find for staying with Milly's family.

Beside her, Knives' spot was empty, proving that he'd already gotten up. That, or he off the bed, which had thus far happened twice since Glory joined the brothers. A glance over the edge disproved the theory and Glory got up, stretching her back and reveling in what it felt like to be able to twist and not be in pain from already-healed wounds.

Sparing a glance at Vash's bed told her that she was the last to get up this morning, which wasn't odd at all. Unless she had a reason to be up, Glory preferred being able to sleep in. Her brothers, however, got up every morning at the same time. Like clockwork. At times she wondered whether or not they rose with the sun.

She rubbed her left shoulder as she made her way to the shower, massaging away the stiffness and pain that told her she slept too long on her left side. She was that there was hot water left. Not just because of the amount of people in the house, but also because of the fact they all rose at nearly the same time, not counting the thirteen women in the house who were pregnant, Milly among them.

She yawned all the way downstairs, finding the kitchen just as buzzing with life as every other room - probably more so. The only time the house was quiet and still was when they all went to bed. Though there was no set time, they laid down as soon as the grandparents in the house did. It was near a miracle that Phillip Sr. Was still alive, being ninety-two. And not only that, he was still incredibly fit. Glory had only few doubts of whether or not he could still put his larger son over his knee and deliver a good paddling if he saw fit to do so.

As usual, several heads turned to see her as she entered the kitchen, and soon she was swarmed by Mily's single cousins and nephews. There weren't many of them, but those that were made it crystal clear. Even some of the younger boys tried a few lines and offered (or begged for) dates. Apparently, age didn't mean much to them, for Glory kept up the story that she was twenty seven, and those younger than her didn't let up. "Excuse me, boys," she said, stepping between them and making her way to sit at the table.

When she first entered the house, her eyes told her that half of the first floor was the family - or living - room. Apparently, the other half was a kitchen, a bathroom, and a door to the basement. It was somewhat oddly made, as well. To get into the kitchen from the living room you had to climb five stout steps, and there was a staircase on the west side of the kitchen, leading to the first floor. It took a left turn, leveled, and then continued into the second stairs, which curved around as the first had done. It left a split down the center of each story, which were bedrooms for the second, forth, fifth and seventh levels. It continued like this for seven stories, and the interior had two exits to every room. The topmost level was an attic, flat-topped, which had a trap door that led to the roof.

The second floor had two bedrooms, for the grandparents, each with their own bathroom. The third level was constructed to hold six bathrooms, a necessity with the size of the family - one bathroom was the "vanity room" which only had mirrors and sinks. The forth level had two bedrooms, one for Milly's parents, and the other for Erica, one of Milly's elder sisters. The fifth level had four bedrooms, one for Milly and Nicholas, one for Glory, Vash and Knives, one for Meryl and one for Marcus. The sixth level had two bedrooms and two bathrooms, one bedroom for Milly's Aunt Carrie and Uncle Steve, the other for her Aunt Rain and Uncle Anthony. The seventh level was four more bedrooms, one for Aunt Zoe and Uncle Orion, one that acted as a nursery for when their many children fell asleep on their visits, one that was a type of storage room, and the last for Larry, Milly's older brother. And not only that, but as it turns out, the Thompsons were all so closely bonded that beyond their backyard, there was a family cemetery. Milly explained about it being there he entire life. Her grandfather's grandfather thought of it, and by now there were at least three hundred graves. Beyond that, well. . .the tombstones reached beyond the horizon. Beyond Glory's vision, that is. But considering her dislike for cemeteries, she wasn't about to go and count them.

Sitting down, Glory reached forward and picked up a cinnamon roll and bit into it. The chairs around and beside her soon took up occupants, but less because they were hungry and more because they wanted to talk to her. Either that or to goggle. Ken (Milly's cousin and the renowned heartbreaker) seemed especially motivated in catching her eye. And she hated to admit it, but his date with her had gone the smoothest. Damon (Milly's nephew) had hit on her constantly. Larry (Milly's brother) ended up spilling his drink and knocking his plate on the ground. Jareth (Milly's cousin) managed to slobber all over her ear when he tried to give her a goodnight kiss and didn't warn her first. Gene (Milly's cousin) simply grew so obsessed with glancing shyly at her that he walked directly into a sign.

"You've been staring at that cinnamon roll for a while now."

Glory jerked and looked sharply at the speaker. "Nicholas," she sighed. "Where's Milly?" With her attention focused elsewhere her admirers began leaving. Nicholas pointed at the living room, where Milly sat alone on the loveseat, using wild hand gestures as she retold a take that involved a glass slipper to her nieces and nephews and second cousins and so on. Fourteen of them sat, the youngest being Jeffrey at three (Tamara and Matt's child) and the eldest Sonny at thirteen (Sammy and Clara's child).

"D'you think she's keeping it straight?" Glory asked, smirking when Milly mimicked the popping of the Fairy Godmother and the children all jumped, even those that had heard the tale before.

Nicholas shrugged and smiled. "Probably, but I wouldn't put bets either way. She can keep things straight pretty well when she's _heard_ it."

Glory laughed. "I suppose you'd have to with a family so big. If you can't remember the face and name, you're screwed." Nicholas in turn laughed and shook his head. "Then my goose is cooked."

"Hey!" Juniper (Milly's cousin) put in, sitting across from Nicholas. "You'd better learn to watch it, mister. We're not all as sweet as Milly is." Glory chuckled. "I've noticed." She was watching Sara (Milly's mother) at sixty seven, come in through the back door, dragging Larry along with her by his ear, berating him for something or another.

Sammy, Larry's elder brother, laughed at him as he was dragged upstairs, Sara still snarling. He was sitting to Glory's left, his wife on his left, who was four months pregnant but looked more so. They'd already come to the conclusion that she had at least two babies in her womb, and as all the men were, Sammy was going an extra mile to make sure she had absolutely everything, even if it meant bankruptcy and thievery. Marcus fought his way to the table through five wrestling men and promptly did an overdramatic fall onto the table. While most of the table's occupants laughed, Clara - along with eight-month pregnant Maria - yelled at him to get out of the way of the food, and their husbands laughed harder. Standing up, Glory wolfed down the rest of her cinnamon roll and dragged Marcus away from the table. Immediately Jean took her seat (Gene's twin sister and three months pregnant) and fought Clara for a glass of juice. Glory and Marcus started outside and promptly Meryl slammed into her, and around the corner, Vash was half laughing, half screaming, trailed by Tom, Steven and Tyler, all of whom had heavy-duty squirt guns. Meryl scrambled at Glory's side until she could squeeze through into the house and slammed the door. Vash sped by, with a, "Hi, Glory, bye Glory," quick to follow. Tyler paused, aimed his quirt gun at Glory, then clearly thought better of it and moved on.

Marcus was laughing. "So we can't stay inside because of the pregnant women, but we can't stay outside due to the water fights, and we can't go into the living room because the children would glare."

"We're not going back inside," Glory told him and stepped under the sole tree in the backyard.

"So what now, then?" Marcus asked, leaning against the trunk on Glory's right. Glory was eyeing the tree. "I really don't know. Have any ideas?"

"Well naturally," Marcus replied, smiling devilishly. "But you'd say no to them all."

"Hi Glory, bye Glory," Vash's voice came as he ran by again, still trailed by the three boys. "How in the world did you become such a pervert?" Glory snapped.

He shrugged. "It had something to do with having a crush on my baby-sitter, my father's squandering, my mother's choice in careers, and where I went after I moved out."

"Glad to see you're still in one piece," she said sarcastically. She glanced out over the cemetery and shuddered. That damn cemetery. She was actually glad her mother had been incinerated in space, because she would have never gone to a cemetery and lay flowers on her grave. That was the problem: the graves. The ones that included statues for tombstones, of angels, of cherubs, of crosses and plaques. She just couldn't stand it. Marcus had followed her gaze. "Creepy, isn't it?" he commented. "Their own cemetery for the Thompsons. I think whoever started that tradition was mad."

Glory shivered. "You're telling me. I can't stand cemeteries."

"Big, strong, brave Glory the Immortal can't stand being around graves?" he asked, surprised.

"Hi Glory, bye Glory."

"No, actually, I can't," Glory replied, eyeing the kids carefully as they continued to run after Vash. Only now they were panting and clutching their sides. "Now they aren't very smart, are they?"

Marcus laughed. "What do you mean?"

"Milly told them what we are. They know they can't catch Vash, hard as they might try. He's too fast, has too much stamina, and we've got a kind of sense that helps us know what's coming."

"Like premonition?"

"Kind of. But it only helps us dodge stuff a few split seconds in advance."

"Oh, okay. I get it."

Glory smirked. "Liar."

"Okay then, let's find out how well you can fight me."

"You don't have a prayer," she retorted, but she was already moving into a defensive pose. Marcus had taken up his own.

"Prove it."

"That's my phrase."

He smirked. "Prove it."

She laughed and bowed. "Ladies first."

She heard laughter and found that a crowd was gathering. Someone stuck their head inside the house and said, "Glory's fighting Marcus!" and the crowd grew.

Marcus noticed them too. "Shouldn't we be charging admission for this?"

"We'll start scheduling them."

"Cool."

Upon finishing the word, Glory charged at him and thus began their fight. Marcus was good, very good, but she knew his best strengths were in knowing his opponent, and they'd only fought once before. She was careful with her hits, not trying to hurt him, but trying to prove her point.

After a few minutes she wasn't proving it so well. Marcus obviously wasn't holding back for her sake, and she began feeling that she shouldn't hold back, either. She was aware that both Vash and Knives had joined the crowd and were watching her, and realized that this was the first time they'd seen her fight before. She made sure to make it especially spectacular for that.

Oh, if only she had brought down her boomerang. . . She almost went upstairs to get it. To these humans, it would only seem like she was gone a few seconds - less if she leapt out her window instead of came back down the stairs.

Flips and twists, silent landings and smooth dodges, perfect jabs and kicks; she focused on all her fighting skills and gave Marcus one bruise after another, while he barely skimmed her. The fight was practically over before it began and everything in the middle was a build to that.

With a final uppercut Marcus fell back and surrendered. Glory grinned at him and helped him up as people began handing money back and forth, collecting on bets. She and Marcus bowed to the crowd.

"Thank you, thank you," Marcus said.

"We'll be here till Thursday," Glory added. "Try the donuts."

Everyone except Vash laughed at that, while Vash himself salivated and Meryl rolled her eyes at him. Glory laughed at his expression and shook her head. Maybe staying here for another few days wouldn't be so bad.

-

Date: Jan. 15. 11:06 pm.

What to say, what to say. . .

First, I'm really sorry I didn't get this up earlier, but things, well. . .got hectic. Lots of moving and such, and lo and behold, I'm across the country without my computer. VV; What I have NOW is a CD with my computer things on them. This means that I cannot put up any new artwork because, ha-ha, no frigging scanner!

:Goes nuts:

Oh yeah, a few little notes: Fanfic, unfortunately, took my squiggles, stars and arrows. Hence the new little exit sign. (Heh, _exit sign_.)

I just recently got THIS computer from my uncle. Don't like him very much, but hell, I don't like most men. Hope I don't rub off on Glory or she really might not get a male soul mate. See ya next chapter! (When I get it up, anyway.)

-DL-


	18. Moving Out

**The Usual Disclaimer:** I do not own Trigun, Meryl, Milly, Wolfwood, Rem, Knives, or Vash, as much as I wish I owned one particular character. . .Oh well, I can dream, can't I?

**Glory **

**Chapter Eighteen: Moving Out**

A few days later found Glory sitting on a cliff overlooking an endless stretch of land, the larger sun dipping into the horizon. It was peaceful here, now, and silent. The air was starting to chill, just slightly. The stars were visible in the far distance behind her, flickering every now and again.

She heard sand crunch and counted the feet walking towards her, their pace. When they stopped, she smiled. "Hello boys," she said.

"Hardly boys," Knives' voice returned.

"You act like it."

"Correction, _he_ acts like it."

"Hey!" Vash snapped.

"That was a childish gesture," Glory scolded.

Those feet moved again and then Glory was sandwiched between her brothers, all three of them sitting. They all stared off at the suns - _sun _at the moment - and the thin golden clouds stretched across it. Each was silent with their own thoughts, but Glory had a strong feeling that they were all thinking the same thing.

"We have to leave," she said.

To her left, Vash bowed his head, seemingly biting his tongue. To her right, Knives nodded.

"I agree," the latter stated. "We have stayed here long enough."

"I'm not leaving Meryl," Vash warned.

"We're not asking you to," Glory told him, smiling slightly.

"You're not seriously considering," Knives began, "taking that human with us?"

"Not at all," Glory replied. "I'm considering that _you_ need me, and that Vash needs Meryl."

Knives stuttered. "We're not leaving him behind with these humans!"

Glory glared. "You keep forgetting, Vash has his own life."

"And I'm well within hearing distance," Vash added with humor in his voice.

Glory glanced at him. His face didn't show an ounce of humor. "You can do whatever you want, Vash," she told him. Reaching out, she looped her arm around his shoulders.

Knives was silent for another few moments. _I refuse to let you go again, _he thought, pointedly at Vash. Glory heard it, too.

"You don't have much choice," Glory told him.

"And you won't be letting me go," Vash added. "I'll stay here. With Meryl, with Milly and Wolfwood, with the Thompsons."

"Good luck," Glory chuckled, eliciting a laugh from Vash.

"With the humans," Knives sneered. "Why must you continue to -"

"Live with them?" Glory interrupted.

"We _are_ living with them," Vash said. "Look around you, Knives. Just because we're not human and they're not Plants doesn't mean that we can't live together. We've _been_ living together for over a century."

"They've weakend you," Knives said, harshly.

"You're wrong, Knives," Glory told him. "You two. . . you're complete opposites. Knives, you're physically extremely sensitive, whereas Vash is emotionally sensitive. You're bent on killing, Vash is bent on saving."

"And what about you?" both brothers asked.

Glory smiled. "Well, let's see. . . I'm strong to pain, both physical and emotional. I don't like killing things, but nor do I stick my neck out for everything that moves."

"So, basically. . ." Vash began.

". . .You're in the middle," Knives ended.

Glory nodded. "Which is why I'm the only one who can make you two understand one another." Finished speaking, she got up and began walking away.

In the back of her mind, she could sense that they were talking mentally to one another. She left them there to talk, and went back to town. But she didn't enter the Thompsons' house again. Instead, she looked in an alley for crates, and used them to climb onto the roof of an abandoned old building. The foundation cracked under her feet and creaked with each step, despite it being made of stone.

She sat there, on the crumbling roof for a few moments before another presence found her. The one she was waiting for.

"Twenty years and I finally get my date," Marcus said. Beside her, he fanned out a blanket on the roof and she got up to sit on it. Marcus sat beside her and the first thing he did was wrap his arms around her.

It felt nice, to say the least.

"You've been waiting twenty years. . . for _this_?" Glory asked him.

He chuckled. "Ridiculous, isn't it? Still, twenty years should show how dedicated I am to you."

_I waited a hundred and thirty years for Vash,_ she thought, sadly. Trying to sound happier than her thoughts were, she said, "Well it shows dedication to _something_."

He laughed this time, and his arms tightened around her. "Glory. . ."

"Yeah, Marcus?"

He paused. "Glory, I think you need. . ."

She tilted back her head on his shoulder to look up at him. "What do you think I need?"

His eyes went from her eyes, to her lips, to her breasts, and back up. He didn't answer her, but he didn't have to.

Glory straightend and turned towards him. "Why do you think I need that? Or. . ." she added, making it seem like she was slowly thinking something out, "is it _you_ who needs it. . ?"

He bit his lip. "Both?"

The best part about his guess, was that it took a little pressure off her thoughts. The worst part about his guess, was that he was right. Unable to stop herself, she leaned forward and waited for him to kiss her.

When he did, she saw in the far distance, a star flicker to life that was never there before. Filled with thoughts of that star being an omen to her life, she closed her eyes, leaned in closer, and let the rest of the night unfold without hesitation or reluctance.

_**Next Morning**_

Everyone looked surprised or angry when entered the Thompson house, her hair loose and trailed by Marcus, who had opened the door for her. A part of her felt full, like the page of one's journal. Having finally filled that page, she allowed herself to flip it over and start a new page. Her only hesitation of doing this was the possibility of hurting Marcus.

She hated not loving him like he loved her, but he had given her something incredible, and she hoped she repaid it in full. After all, up until last night, she was a virgin by default. Because she had had to watch over Vash all this time, there had never been a moment steady enough to let such a relationship bloom.

. . .And in a few days, she was going to squash that bloom, and possibly Marcus' heart.

Marcus and she went up the stairs, he to his room and she to hers -

Vash and Knives were both in the room waiting for her. She knew they'd be. She shut the door, knowing that a lot of questions and anger would begin pouring out of the two. The only thing they seemed to have in common was a strong familial bond, centered around protectiveness of Glory.

"Where were you?" Knives asked, but his voice wasn't as calm as his features.

"You know the old abandoned building on the egde of town? . . . I was on the roof," she explained. She sat down on the bed and looked up at her brothers. What bothered her the most of this situation wasn't Knives' unrelenting anger, but Vash's seemingly shocked composure.

"You were with Marcus," Knives snapped, gesturing in the general direction of Marcus' room.

"Yes, I was." No use denying it; she wasn't even ashamed.

"All night!"

"It's good that you noticed."

"How can you sit there and nonchalant about this!" Knives ranted. "He's a human!"

"I know he's human," Glory returned. "It doesn't matter."

"Do you intend to marry him!" Knives went on, heedless. "To settle down and have children with him!"

She didn't answer out loud, but by Knives' sudden silence, she knew he heard her thoughts. _No._

"No," Vash echoed aloud, speaking for the first time. "You let him. . . and you don't want to. . . Glory?"

She shook her head. "What Marcus did was what I needed. I don't need it anymore." Her eyes were solely on Vash.

It seemed to enrage Knives further. He glared at his brother and rounded on Glory, lifting her chin so she _had_ to look at him. "_Why_ did you go to a _human!_"

That seemed like a stupid question. There were only three of them; who else was there, besides humans?

And that's when it hit her. She stood up, looking at Knives incredulously. "This isn't about you, Knives."

His jaw clenched. "You don't understand a thing, Glory! Whatever you need, we can give you, at any time! Why didn't you come to _us!_"

"Knives -" Vash began, only to get cut off.

"She should have come to us!" Knives snapped towards Vash.

"That's commonly known as _incest_, Knives," Glory told him.

"Not with our kind," he shot back.

"It's. . . ridiculous!" she said, lifting her hands in the air. She stepped away from Knives and Vash to stand alone, and faced them. "You can't honestly believe that I would go to you if I wanted sex, Knives."

He gave her a look that stated, 'Yes I do'.

Both she and Vash were stunned to silence.

"No," Vash said. "You can't force her into doing anything, Knives."

Knives glared at Vash. "We're her brothers. We can take care of anything she needs. Just us."

. . .And just like that, it made sense. "This isn't about sex at all," Glory said.

"Then what. . ?" Vash began.

Knives shut his mouth.

"It's about _us_," she said. "Knives really wants it to be just us, just us taking care of one another." She folded her arms. "Spurred on by last night's conversation, most likely."

Knives gave her a glare that could kill. "It had nothing to do with that conversation."

"I believe it did," she returned. "First Vash gets a human lover, and now me. You think you're losing us."

"I'm not losing you!" he yelled.

"But you think you are. Knives," she said, coming closer, "I'm not going to marry Marcus. I'm not sure he'd even ask."

His eyes narrowed and he turned his glare on Vash. "And what about you!"

Vash glanced away. "I love Meryl," he said, quietly. "I _do_ want to marry her."

For a moment, Glory could swear she almost saw Knives go up in flames. A second later and he seemed to compose himself.

"Fine," he said. "But I won't lose both of my siblings." He walked over to Glory, wrapped an arm around her, and glared at Vash.

"See, that - that right there," Glory said, shrugging away. "_That_ is why everyone thinks you're mad. Very possibly, you _are_, Knives. Vash isn't leaving or rejecting either of us."

"What else could it be?" Knives snapped at her.

"I'm accepting Meryl into our family, too," Vash said. "I don't have to leave somebody behind to gain someone new, you know."

"Vash is right, Knives," Glory said. "There's no rule written that in order to love a new person, you have to stop loving someone else."

It enraged Knives again. "This isn't about love!"

Glory could have slapped him. She should have, really. "Then what it is about?"

"Knives," Vash answered. "It's about Knives."

Knives glared at Vash as though it'd shut him up.

Glory nodded as it made sense. "It wasn't too long ago, that you two reunited," she said, thinking aloud. "And not much longer after that, you found me and then I almost died. Knives. . . you're clinging."

Knives turned his glare on Glory. "I do not _cling_!"

"You're spoiled," Glory accused.

"You have both of us now," Vash went on.

"Once spoiled, people fear -"

"- losing what they have."

"They percieve everything -"

"- as a threat to take away -"

"- what they still have."

"Stop it!" Knives yelled. "Don't psyche me!"

Biting her lip, Glory stepped up to Knives and hugged him around the chest. A moment later Vash joined the embrace, hugging Knives and Glory in one.

Knives went completely quiet, both verbally and mentally. Nearly a full minute passed before Knives did anything, but finally, he began to shake. With her mind, Glory could feel his emotions rising and taking control of him, a warm feeling which brought with it visions of unending joy.

Love.

Knives was feeling love. For th first time, Glory felt Knives' love for her and for Vash. The effect it had was incredible: Glory felt herself begin to shake as well, and Vash. Knives' arms wrapped around her and Glory shifted enough to hug Vash, too. In unison, after several minutes, the three of them fell to their knees, holding one another and shaking.

Glory looked up at Knives and then Vash, and saw that they were both smiling. Vash was also crying silent tears. Knives let one arm let go of Glory and shifted so it went around Vash, and then all three of them were smiling and silently crying, unable to let go of one another.

It was so peaceful, so pleasant, so _needed_ that when someone knocked on the door, Glory felt as though she had been taken from a warm beach and dunked into a pool of freezing water. It hurt.

In her arms, she felt Vash jerk and Knives snap his head up. All at once the moment was broken and they were shaking now with the pain of seperation, holding each other more tightly than they were before. They looked at the door.

"Who is it?" Glory asked, her voice shaking as she struggled to regain her composure.

"It's. . . it's Meryl," a voice replied. "You three have been in there all day; it's time for lunch already."

_And I showed up just after breakfast,_ Glory thought. _We've been like this for a long time._

Knives glanced down at her, then over at Vash. _I had no idea this much time had passed._

Vash was looking at the door. "Thanks, Meryl," he said. Looking back at Knives, he nodded. _Me neither._

Glory smiled and leaned into Knives, tightening her arms around her brothers. _Nothing wrong with losing track of time while hugging._

The twins chuckled. _Agreed,_ they thought in unison.

_**Following Evening **_

It was a farewell. Glory stood, standing next to Knives, facing Vash and Meryl, Milly and Wolfwood, Marcus and a few others. It was time for her and Knives to leave, time for her to show Knives the other side of humans.

Behind her was a jeep. She had the keys in her pocket. Her boomerang she had thrown into a gorge earlier this day, getting rid of it for good. She had finally taken off her chain, and left it in their room at the Thompson's. Considering she wore it for Vash all these years, it only seemed right that she leave it behind for him, for him to do what he wished with it.

Knowing Vash, he was going to keep it.

"You sure you two don't want to stay longer?" Vash asked, hugging Glory tightly.

"I've got a lot to teach him," Glory replied and stepped back. "I can't do that here."

Knives stepped forward and hugged Vash as well, but it was obviously much harder for the twins to let go of each other. Glory said her goodbyes to the rest of the group, and returned to Vash once more for one last thing. Out of her back pocket, she pulled out a piece of paper, folded over and over so it stayed extremely small.

She took Vash's hand and in doing so handed him the paper. "Good bye," she said, though it was faint.

She and Knives got into the jeep and drove away, though Knives looked back as they began. Turning to her again, he spoke.

"What did you give him?"

"A song I remember," she replied. "I thought it fitted the moment well."

"How does it go?"

She smiled. Wetting her lips, she began to sing:

_"I had a dream that I could fly, I can feel each moment as time goes by. We'd never be too far away, you would always be here, I heard you say. I never thought. . . thought that it could be our last goodbye. I still can dream. . . that one day love will fall out of the sky. Do you still remember, all the time that has gone by? Do you still believe that, love can fall out of the sky? If from where you're standing, you can see the sky above, I'll be waiting for you, if you still believe in love. Find a way, to bring back yesterday. Find a way to love. I hope we stay, when tomorrow becomes today. . . Love will find a way. . ."_

_**Vash **_

_"I'll be waiting for you, in my heart you are the one. If I cannot find you, I will look up to the sun,"_ he read aloud. _"Do you still remember, all the time that has gone by? Do you still believe that, love can fall out from the sky? If from where you're standing, you can see the sky above, I'll be waiting for you, if you still believe in love. . . Do you believe?"_

As it ended, he looked up and smiled at the sun, through his tears. _I believe,_ he thought. _I'm waiting for you, too._

The end. It took forever for me to decide on how long it'll take to reach the ending. As though you can't tell.

Well, Glory left behind Marcus. Vash decided to stay with Meryl. Knives left with Glory, but they're not going to stay gone forever.

Song: Do You Still Believe. It's from the game 'Legend of Dragoon'. Full lyrics at animelyrics dot com.

And wasn't their hug just beautiful? **_:Tears in eyes:_** So pretty. I'm very happy with it, heh.

See you! **_:Waves: _**The endings are always so sad. . .


End file.
